


Snapdragons and Tulips

by bilboswaggins



Category: Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)
Genre: Eggsy as Galahad, Fluff, Harry as Arthur, Light Angst, M/M, No Spoilers, Post Movie, Slow Burn, Undercover as a Couple
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-24
Updated: 2015-05-03
Packaged: 2018-03-25 12:15:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 33,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3810019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bilboswaggins/pseuds/bilboswaggins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry and Eggsy have an easy relationship at Kingsman, light banter, casual flirting. But when they get assigned to a mission at a Millionaire's Couple Resort and need to play the part of lovers, how far is too far?</p>
<p>Slow Burn with light Angst, for all your fluffy cute Hartwin needs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. An Unexpected Sleepover

**Author's Note:**

> This is a transcribed RP, edited to read as cleanly as possible - keep that in mind as perspective shifts!

After debating with Merlin all last night, finally he had caved in, and Eggsy was ridiculously pleased. He was smug all last night and it continued on into the morning, a smirk unable to stay off his face as he made the journey to HQ. He couldn’t wait to tell Harry, to see how he would take it. He strode around like he owned the place, and finally came to Harry’s new office, Arthur’s office. Any other Agent would be hesitant, and at the very least extend the courtesy of knocking. Eggsy was not any other agent.

Calmly, he opened the door and walked right in, sitting down in the chair across from Harry, one of his legs crossed over the other, his hands laced and folded on his knee, smug smirk in place as always.

_“You’re being way too indulgent with the boy, Harry,” Merlin said, earlier that day, catching Harry on his way out to a meeting with a potential client. “It’s not like you to play favorites.”_

_“That’s hardly what I’m doing,” Harry said with a sigh and ignored the urge to take off running for the car. They’ve had this conversation at least ten times in the past few hours and Harry just didn’t understand what the problem was. “Eggsy’s not going to leave you alone until you pair him with me. And let’s be frank now, shall we? Roxy and I don’t really mix. She’s far too intimidated by me to pull this off properly.” He held his hand up at the disapproval on his friend’s face. “Now, I’m not saying she’s not an excellent agent. She is. We just wouldn’t really…fit. Now Eggsy on the other hand…” Harry saw Merlin’s eyes narrow suspiciously and this time he couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “Just do it, Merlin. And don’t guilt the boy into working extra hours for you again. You’ve got dozen of new agents you can use as your guinea pigs. Leave mine alone.”_

And that had really been the end of it. So it was really not surprising at all when the next morning, Eggsy, looking like he owned the place, sauntered in and made himself at home. Now Harry would have loved to see that satisfied smirk on his face but he wasn’t going to give the young man the satisfaction of having his attention. He would have to work for it first.

So Harry went on with his work, signing off on this and that and looking through the new clientele list just as he would have done had he been alone.

Eggsy gave him a few moments, waiting to see if he was simply waiting for a break in paperwork to acknowledge him. When he didn’t look up, the grin turned to a scowl, his hands on the arms of the chair to help him as he squirmed in his seat, leaning forward to get a better look at him.

“Harry. Harry. Harry. … Harry.”

_Oh good Lord,_ Harry thought, _he really is like a child._ Barely stifling a sigh, Harry held out two more minutes before he finally graced Eggsy with his attention. Leaning back in his seat, he gave the younger man a rather unimpressed look.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I must have missed when you knocked and I invited you in my office and told you to make yourself right at home.”

“Guess so, bruv.” Eggsy was grinning again, satisfied at Harry’s mild annoyance. He sat back again, pleased with himself. “Had t’tell y’somethin. Too important for knockin.”

Harry took a second to look Eggsy over before he spoke again, the corner of his mouth curling up in a barely there smile. “You’re looking rather pleased with yourself so I don’t know how much I’m going to like this but please, go on.”

He loved smiles like that. His own grin grew, barely noticeable, as he continued. “You know that mission you was supposed to go on with Rox? Merlin said I’m goin instead.”

“Did he now?" Harry raised an eyebrow, his head tilting slightly to the side. It was getting harder and harder to keep back his own grin at Eggsy’s barely concealed delight. “How curious. Because that doesn’t sound like Merlin at all. Perhaps we should call him and double check?” Harry started leaning forward to grab his phone.

_Uh-oh._

“Cross my heart.” His eyebrows raised as his grin faded in mild chagrin. “’m goin wiv’ya. But don’t bother Merlin, yeah? ‘m sure ‘e’s busy ‘n all.” He tried to force the grin back on his face and not look like perhaps he’d left out some details.

Harry pretended to consider the younger man’s words for a moment or two. He delayed any reaction long enough to see a little bit of nervousness creep onto Eggsy’s features. He did so love to play with him. “Hm, I’m sure you’re right. After all, the seven missed calls I had from Merlin last night couldn’t have had anything to do with this.” Harry left that as an opened ended question, eager to see whether Eggsy was going to own up to his…shenanigans.

If anything, Eggsy looked more surprised, his legs uncrossing as he unconsciously reverted back to his usual posture in the lapse of mental control. “…Seven? Really? … Seems excessive,” he grumbled, his face shifting to a pout. “… ‘ang on, what was you doin that ‘e had time t’call ya _seven times?”_ He wasn’t sure he wanted the answer to that, but the question blurted itself out before he could stop it.

Truth be told, Merlin had only called him once late into the night to tell him that his wish had been granted and that Eggsy had looked far too happy for his own good. There may have also been a bit about Harry being an old, sentimental fool but Harry generally ignored that bit.

He raised an eyebrow at Eggsy’s blunt question and shifted a bit in his seat, straightening out his suit to buy himself a little more time. Finally, he just went with the easiest answer he could think of. Which wasn’t really an answer at all. “Now Eggsy, that’s rather inappropriate, don’t you think?”

Eggsy only huffed, no longer looking at him. That was something he wasn’t terribly keen on lingering on, and quickly grasped at a change of subject. “… Anyway. Er. Thought I’d let y’know. ‘m actually excited for it, seems like it’d be fun. Serious, yeah, I know,” he added, before he could say anything. “But fun too. ‘aven’t ‘ad a proper go-out since V-Day.”

“Yes, the change in scenery should do us both some good. “ Harry said, absentmindedly running his fingers over the scar at his temple. He quickly caught himself and stopped, looking unusually sheepish and uncomfortable with his slip. “I have missed field work terribly. I’m not used to sitting around all day and filling mission reports. Ghastly business if you ask me. I’d have someone else do it for me but Merlin would throw a fit every day.”

He was starting to gain back his normal happy look, more and more as Harry spoke. He could only imagine. 30+ years of field work and reduced to desk duty? He’d only been in Kingsman a few weeks and he knew he would go crazy if that happened to him. “I feel like Merlin’s ‘throwin a fit’ would be swearin an’ passive-aggressive acts of technology failure,” Eggsy sniggered. “Can’t ‘ave that.”

“Oh, that’s nothing.” Harry said with a wave of his hand. “I remember one time, a couple of years ago, Merlin was particularly cross with me for not stealing some code from the Russians that he needed to make his toys more high tech so during one of my honey pot missions he switched the ringtone on my phone to ‘La Cucaracha’ then right as I was about to hook my target, he called me.” Harry couldn’t hold back a chuckle this time, a look of fondness breaking over his features as he thought back on that memory.

Eggsy actually burst out laughing at the thought of Harry Hart, suave spy and sex on legs, being embarrassed over a ridiculous ringtone in the middle of trying to hook up a shag. Beautiful. “Ey, remind me t’thank Merlin next time I see ‘im.”

Harry huffs and barely fights down the urge to cross his arms over his chest and make himself look somewhat more intimidating. Not that that would really work with Eggsy. It’d probably only make the younger agent laugh even more. “Yes, well that’s enough chit-chat for now. Haven’t you got any actual work to do? If not, I’m sure I can find you something to keep you occupied.”

He continued to snigger as he pushed himself to stand up, brushing down his front as he sidestepped the chair to stand next to it. “Of course, Arthur. Whatever my ‘king’ commands.” He grinned and even had the balls to wink cheekily as he turned for the door.

“ _Your_ king?” Harry raised an eyebrow, the corners of his mouth twisting up in a smile. “That’s a bit presumptuous of you, isn’t it?” He stood up as well and grabbed a couple of files from his desk then followed Eggsy to the door.

“Is it?” He echoed back, throwing another grin over his shoulder as he stepped out.

“Most certainly.” He replied, following him out and closing the office door behind them. “I don't recall you taking me out to dinner anytime in the past. Or buying me flowers.”  He seemed to think his words over. "To be fair, I'm not a fan of flowers. They do tend to dry up and make a mess."

“Been a bit busy,” Eggsy hummed, praying the pink he could feel rising in his neck stay down.  “Shame, I’ll ‘ave t’return the ones I bought’ya. Ah well, ‘m sure Rox likes ‘em.” He teased, though seemed unable to look at him properly.

"Oh? Well now you've got me curious." Harry fell in step next to Eggsy as they started to walk down the long hallway towards the elevator. "What type of flowers are they? I'm interested to know what you think I'd like." He couldn't help but tease back and watch that lovely flush on Eggsy's neck darken and spread, becoming so prominent that it caught the attention of the agents passing them by. This was just too good an opportunity to pass.

“Snapdragons an’ tulips.” Eggsy was chuckling to himself at that, bowing his head toward the floor with a grin. “But maybe a bit too pink, yeah? Much more Rox, I think.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that. I think the lovely rosy color of the snapdragons would match perfectly with the blush you’re supporting at the moment. All in all, it would all make quite a lovely picture. One I wouldn’t mind seeing.” Harry came to a stop in front of the elevator and pushed the button. “Have you finished typing up the reports for Merlin?”

The redness darkened a bit as he stood there with him. _Damn him, that was smooth._ “… Yeah. Yeah I ‘ave.” His dumb tongue was too sluggish to come up with anything witty at the moment, anything to properly make up for the traitorous flush in his face.

Harry regarded Eggsy's flushed face; the invitation to join him on some Intel gathering right on the tip of his tongue but right at the last second, when the elevator doors slid opened, he changed his mind. He couldn't take the boy with him everywhere simply because Harry enjoyed his company. It would only bring truth to Merlin's words from the day before and Harry couldn't have that.

"Good. Take them over to Merlin and if he's pleased he promised to let you test out some of his new toys."

He stepped in the elevator and pushed the button for his floor then just as the doors started to close, he winked and said, "Have fun and try not to blow us up."

Eggsy grinned at him as they slid shut and turned once it was gone. He quickly went on his way to do just that – testing some toys would do him a lot of good at the moment…

\---

The rest of the day passed by without much special about it. Yes, he got to test some guns, yes, he read up on the mission he was now to go on, and yes, he got to spend at least an hour sitting with Roxy and regaling her with the truly enthralling tale of ‘I totally embarrassed myself in front of Harry’ (which, she thought with mild amusement and mild annoyance, happened every other day, it seemed). But nothing truly special. Merlin sent him on home at 17.00, and he happily took the ride from the tube to the car to his new house he shared with his mother and sister.

Harry's day hadn't been any more exciting either. What he'd thought would take him an hour or two, managed to eat up his whole morning and afternoon so once he'd finally finished, he made a quick stop at HQ and took his remaining work home, refusing to stay in that suffocating office any longer. If Merlin had any need of him, he knew where to find him.

Eggsy only lasted an hour at the house. After one hour, in which he took a nice shower and changed back into his standard polo, jeans, jacket, and hat, he couldn’t take it anymore. Daisy had been screaming when he got home, and she hadn’t stopped. His mum, bless her, was doing all she could, but the little child could absolutely not be consoled this night. Mumbling an apology, he slipped back out of the house, running out of there.

He wandered around for awhile, sending texts to his friends and trying to call Roxy, all to no avail. He threw a glance down the familiar road to the Black Prince, debating, but deciding against it. Tonight was not a night to get drunk on one’s own. A grin started to spread on his face as he thought of a different option. A better option.

Minutes of walking passed by and he sent a text off to Harry, simply reading, _“hey u home?”_

Harry had just gotten out of the shower when his phone pinged with a new text. Reluctantly and praying it wasn't Merlin with an emergency, he grabbed his phone out of his jacket pocket and looked at the screen. Eggsy.

His brief smile was replaced by a disapproving frown as he typed out a reply.

_"One of these days I will refuse to answer you until you learn to type like a true gentleman."_

A second later, he sent out another text.

_"Also, yes I am home. Why?"_

Eggsy simply rolled his eyes at the first message. Gentleman type. Pfah.

_“doin anything important”_

Harry clenched his jaw as he read Eggsy's next text. That missing question mark was seriously grating on his nerves.

_"I'm sorry, I don't understand. Was that a question or a fact? Are you doing this on purpose? It's not amusing."_

Oh yes it was.

_“I extend my deepest regrets, friend Harold of Hart. Please accept my apology and permit me to rephrase what was so garishly worded._

_Art thou experiencing any matters of import at present?”_

A startled laugh escaped Harry - who was in the middle of boiling some water for tea - as he read the incoming text. Cheeky brat. 

Leaning against the counter and sporting an idiotic grin, he texted back.

_"Now, was that so hard? And to answer your well put question: no, I was merely going to prepare some dinner. Although going by the contents of my fridge, I'll have to settle for that dreadful, emergency frozen pizza."_

_“Oh, delightful.”_

He had the sense to wait at least 60 seconds after sending the message to ring the doorbell, having been standing around his door for the past several minutes.

The ringing of the doorbell put Harry on edge, getting him from relaxed and at ease to fully alert in 0.1 seconds. He wasn't expecting anyone and he rarely got unexpected visitors that weren't trying to kill him. He put the phone down, slid a bread knife in the pocket of his robe and headed for the door.

A moment later he opened the door and was welcomed with...Eggsy's smiling face. The set of his shoulders instantly relaxed and he shook his head.

"Eggsy. What are you doing here?"

His smile only grew at seeing the alertness melt to relaxing as he recognized him. He was oddly proud of that. “Escapin’ home, ‘f ‘m honest.” He tilted his head, eyebrows tilting up almost sheepishly. “Dais’ is makin a right racket, can’t even ‘ear m’self think. Didn’t know where t’go, so, here I am.”

Without any further inquiries, Harry pulled the door open all the way and stepped back to allow Eggsy to get in.

"You know where everything is; make yourself at home." He closed and locked the door then took out the bread knife from his pocket, ignoring Eggsy's raised eyebrow. "Are you hungry? Now that you're here I'm not against ordering some take out. Can't be any worse than that frozen pizza."

It would be much too much of a fight to keep back his grin, for far too little gain. He loved that Harry just let him in. He loved that Harry had come to the door with a knife, of course he would. He loved that Harry so casually was willing to include Eggsy in his plans for the evening, ordering food, sharing with him. Fuck. Fuck this was getting embarrassing.

“Starved, actually,” he admitted, a hand going to his stomach. When did he last eat? 11.00? Unacceptable.

“Can I trust you to order something for us while I go put something more appropriate on?” Harry tried not to read too much into the delighted expression on Eggsy’s face.  It couldn’t be because Harry simply let him in and invited him to stay over for some take out dinner. That would be a foolish thing to think, wouldn’t it? “Nothing too overly greasy for me or I’ll be up all night praying for death.” He added with a small smile then handed over the take out menus he’d taken out. “Oh, and if you decide to get Vietnamese, I suggest staying away from any meat. It’s always questionable on Wednesdays.” Harry was just about to turn for the stairs when the kettle went off. Blasted tea, he’d forgot all about it. “Tea?”

Eggsy took the menus in his hand and had started to look them over, when the kettle sounded. “I got that-“ he said, grinning as he started toward the sound. “You go put on sommat appropriate. I c’n hardly tell ‘ow bloody posh you are in a **_robe._** ” He teased, going to take care of finishing the tea for him. It would give him something to focus on as he tried to get his stupid grin off his face, and the menus would just make it grow.

But he really was hungry. He’d have to take care of that sooner rather than later.

“You love it. Don’t even try to deny it.” This was delivered absentmindedly as Harry watched Eggsy putter around his kitchen without a care. As if he belonged there. Harry swallowed hard and turned away. The last thing he needed was to be caught staring like a lovesick fool at his younger protégé. Merlin would have loved seeing him try to talk himself out of that one, surely.

It took Harry a little under five minutes to slip on his silk cream colored pajamas and red dressing gown. It was a little warm for both layers so he left his dressing down open. Eggsy had seen him without pants at one point in his training so how Harry wore his dressing gown shouldn’t bother him too much, should it? Having put on his cashmere slippers, Harry was ready to go downstairs.

Eggsy was on the telephone ordering, what sounded to Harry, enough food for ten people. Not bothering to hide his smile, Harry silently walked around Eggsy and took a seat at the table.

Hearing the soft footsteps, it took him a moment to register them – he was concentrating on ordering anything that looked good – but once he did he turned to give Harry a grin. Or rather, meant to. As soon as he caught the smile, the open red dressing gown over his pajamas, he had to turn back away and focus on the phone call. Harry looked far too casual and comfortable and far more approachable than he did in his usual suit. He had to make himself look away, else he’d probably keep looking for far too long.

As he finished up the call with an appropriately timed stomach growl, he opened up Harry’s cabinets, looking for tea cups to serve up whatever kind of tea Harry had been making – he hadn’t even checked.

“It’s Earl Grey,” Harry was the first to break the silence as he watched Eggsy out of the corner of his eye. “I normally prefer an organic blend of white tea and raspberries but the shipment is late so this will have to do for now.” Heading for the fridge he asked, “Do you take milk in your tea? Truth be told, I’ve never once seen you drink tea. Willingly, anyways.”

A moment later he appeared next to Eggsy, standing so close to him that their shoulders brushed with every move. He put the carton of milk on the counter then crowded against Eggsy to reach the cabinet that held the sugar. Of course he could have just sidestepped the man or ask Eggsy to step aside but for reasons he daren’t think about now, he didn’t. “Sugar?”

Eggsy had chuckled lightly and offered a nonchalant ‘When in Rome.’ He didn’t drink tea often, no. It wasn’t really his thing. It always tasted too bitter or too sweet or too … plant-like, was the best adjective he could come up with. But he was in someone else’s home, so he’d behave and take what was offered to him. Like a good gentleman.

“…Eh?” Eggsy blinked as the question was asked, having been momentarily frozen in place. “…Sugar. Sugar yeah, right.” He muttered almost under his breath, his jaw clenching as he mentally smacked himself for the rather stupid response. Red was creeping up his neck again; did Harry _really_ need to stand so close. He felt like the air was starting to get sucked from the room.

As if summoned by Harry himself, a lovely blush bloomed across Eggsy’s neck and for a moment he found himself unable to look away. Harry would never admit it in a million years but he did love that he could make Eggsy look like this, so flustered and doing an unbelievably poor job of hiding it. It was…well, for lack of a better word, downright adorable. 

The seconds ticked by and the silence that followed wasn’t uncomfortable per se, but it was charged with…well, with something Harry wasn’t too keen on labeling. Not right now, anyway. He placed the bowl of sugar on the counter so Eggsy could help himself to it then grabbed the carton of milk and poured some for himself. “Would you like some?” Harry’s voice had come out huskier than he’d ever admit to and prayed that Eggsy didn’t notice.

The question was asked and Eggsy let out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He reached out for the sugar (and was actually quite impressed with himself at how steady his hand was) and began adding it to his tea, two, three, four spoon-fulls.

Luckily for Harry, the majority of what Eggsy could hear was his own blood pulsing in his ears. “Eh, nah.” He answered as casually as he could manage, giving Harry a small smile, his eyes meeting his for half a second before he carefully peeled himself away with his cup, scurrying over with the guise of picking up his phone again. And if nothing else, looking pointlessly at the screen gave him an excuse not to look at him until he calmed his stupid pulse back down.

“Very well.” Harry added two spoon-fulls of sugar to his own tea then busied himself with putting everything back in its rightful place. Despite appearances, Eggsy wasn’t the only one affected by their proximity. But after thirty plus years in the service, Harry had learned to control his blush or any other nervous ticks. Of course, there was nothing he could do about the quickening of his pulse and the traitorous, truly embarrassing butterflies in his stomach which were dutifully ignored, thank you very much.

“I still have some work to do until the food gets here, at least. Hope you don’t mind.” He walked out of the kitchen, tea in hand and trusting Eggsy to follow him. “You may watch TV or a film from my collection, if you wish.”

“Course.” That brought his usual smile back to his face, excited at the idea of simply hanging around for awhile and picking out something to watch. Happily, he pocketed his phone and followed Harry out of the kitchen and into the living area. He’d been here before for the 24 hours they’d spent together, obviously, and a few times since, but it always mildly surprised him that Harry even had a TV. It was just a bit odd to think of him sitting in front of the telly like a normal human being.

Setting the tea down on the table beside his couch, Eggsy hopped over to the array of movies he could pick from, a finger sliding along the spines as he read them over, considering.

“If you decide on anything horror, I will have zero sympathy for you if you can’t sleep at night.” Harry’s cup joined Eggsy’s on the coffee table but instead of sitting down on the couch, Harry opted for the floor, leaning his back against the couch. Because, let’s face it, if he were to sit down next to Eggsy right now there would be no way he could properly concentrate on his work.

“Maybe no’, but you’d still ‘ave t’deal with my ‘I’m scared’ texts,” he grinned.

“You do realize I would just turn off my phone, roll over and fall asleep and let you to tend for yourself." He sounded faintly amused at the idea of Eggsy doing such a thing. Maybe it was because it would seem so out of character for the younger man since it was a well-known fact that Eggsy didn't scare easily. Merlin had tried and tried...

He was about to give up and put on the telly for background noise, not a lot of Harry’s movies stood out to him at the moment, until he landed on one in particular. Of course he’d have this one.

He slid ‘My Fair Lady’ out of the selection and turned to look at him with raised eyebrows and a tilted head, a smug looking smirk on his face. He said nothing, just held it up to show him he’d found it.

Feeling eyes on him, Harry looked up and swallowed hard when he saw what Eggsy was holding up. He tried for a nonchalant shrug. "Oh shush, it is one of the classics, of course I would have it." He prayed Eggsy was oblivious to the fact that the case seemed brand new and in much better condition than any of his other movies in his collection, so new, in fact, that he hadn't even had a chance to watch it since he'd got it.

“Ow ‘bout ‘Trading Places’? Nikita? Pretty Woman?” Eggsy sniggered as he echoed Harry’s words from what felt like years ago, turning the box over in his hands. “Been ages since I seen this,” he hummed, thoughtfully. It had been one of those movies that had been on the few channels they got back at home on a night where it was just he and his mother. He had fond memories of it, actually. Though he didn’t remember the movie entirely, just the middle bits, and he couldn’t for the life of him remember how it ended.

He opened it up and bent down to place it in the player, smug smirk in place.

"You may tease but I'll have you watching those movies before the year is up, you'll see." Harry averted his gaze right as Eggsy bent down. He couldn't help but think that this was retribution for what happened in the kitchen earlier. He wouldn't put it past Eggsy however, the doubted the young man would deliberately flirt with him quite so bluntly.

Harry shook his head. Get over yourself, he thought. Eggsy's wasn't flirting with him or teasing him, for God's sake. He was quite innocently putting a damn CD in the player. Nothing to read into that. Honestly Hart, get a hold of yourself.

With a clear of his throat, Harry turned to his papers and did his best to focus on the task at hand.

Humming pleasantly, Eggsy finished setting up the DVD in its player and straightened up, grabbing the necessary remotes. He gave him a nice polite smile as he walked past and plopped down on the couch, legs folded and settling in pleasantly. This would be a nice night. And with Harry situated where he was, he could glance over at him every now and then without him noticing. Lovely bonus there.

He turned everything on and took the teacup in his hands, sipping it and trying not to make a face as he watched the screen load itself up. All he had to do was watch the film and try not to embarrass himself while they waited for the food. He could handle that. Probably.

 

"Did Merlin brief you on our next mission?" Harry looked up just in time to see Eggsy pull a face at the taste of his tea. Poor boy, he was obviously just drinking it to be polite and because tea was the only thing that Harry had offered him. "If the tea is not to your taste," Dear God, was that him speaking? "You know where the liquor cabinet is; help yourself." Yes, good job, Hart. Because a drunken Eggsy is exactly what you need to deal with right now. Alas, it was too late to retract his offer. God help him.

That was an offer he could jump on. Eggsy grinned and set the tea cup aside as he hopped up to go do just that, listening with a smirk as he rummaged about for a glass and some ice.

"We need to infiltrate a resort which caters mostly to millionaires and their lovers. Very high security, very hush hush." He sighed. "You need to either know someone who knows someone else to get in or you need to be willing to pay up lots of money." At this, Harry smiled mischievously. "Luckily, we have lots of money."

“An’ are suave enough t’play the parts,” he sniggered, picking up one of the bottles and pouring some. “Think I c’n handle that. So I’m a rich millionaire and y’re my tag-along ‘lover’ yeah?” He teased with a nonchalant hum, making his way back over to his seat and sitting with one leg crossed over the other. He was holding the glass now in the same way he’d seen Harry do a dozen times over, his posture echoing his, playing high class which contrasted starkly with his baggy clothes.

Harry watched him closely, his paperwork all but forgotten. His expression was a mixture of fondness and poorly contained amusement as he watched Eggsy's not too bad impression of him.  "Charming but you'll have to wait ten more years before you pull that off perfectly, I'm afraid." Harry took a sip of his tea, sighing contently as the liquid warmed him from the inside out.

"For you to pass as a millionaire, you'd need a much younger lover than me. Someone at least your age. No one would ever believe that you'd willingly choose me over thousands of other prospects." He was about to say more on the subject when the doorbell rang. "I'll get that," he said and got up to answer the door in his usual graceful manner.

“Clearly then they’d never met’ya,” he said partially to himself as he sipped, staying in place as Harry went to answer the door. ‘No one would ever believe.’ Pfah. If Eggsy had a choice, he’d choose Harry over millions of other prospects. Every time.

"Are you all right with eating out of the take out containers?" Harry asked once he'd gotten rid of the delivery man.

He waited, his legs uncrossing to sit more comfortably with his legs apart and back slouched, but perked right up as he smelled the wonderful smell of food. “’s a better question t’ask you. I’d eat outta me own hand if I got t’ave somma that.” He grinned, knowing better than to simply say ‘give it here,’ like he normally would. “Need some help with that?” He stood back up, ready to do whatever he may ask.

Harry looked at Eggsy's eager face, almost drooling from hunger - that was an exaggeration, obviously but Harry could so easily imagine it - then back down at the bags. The smell was making his own mouth water and if he weren't a gentleman, he'd have eaten out of his own hands as well. "You take everything out," he said finally and handed the bags over to Eggsy. "And I'll bring some plates and lots of napkins." He raised an eyebrow at him. "I have a feeling we're going to be needing them."

He left the room with a smirk on his face at Eggsy's scandalized expression.

Eggsy went lightly pink again as he watched Harry go, but quickly diverted his attention to the bags. His stomach was primarily in charge as he hurriedly took out the boxes and set them on the coffee table, his eyes closed and smelling as he knelt by the table, almost swaying in his anticipation.

Harry came back with two plates and some napkins and normal utensils. The sight that welcomed him back was...difficult to describe. Harry didn't know whether to laugh or to sneak back out, grab a camera and take a picture of this moment. Eggsy was literally staring the food down with wide eyes and looking far too excited for his own good.

"Anyone seeing you would think you haven't had any food in a year. Close your mouth Eggsy," He chided although it was followed by a chuckle so it wasn't as effective. "You're drooling all over the food." He handed over the plate and sat down on the floor, his shoulder brushing Eggsy's knees. "So, what have we here, hmm? Smells delicious."

“Can’t ‘elp it,” he grinned, taking the plate gratefully and starting in on the many boxes. “Well, y’said no Vietnamese,” he said, taking a fork to start to scoop food up onto his plate. “An’ one of th’other ones was a Chinese place. Mum an’ I used’ta get Chinese all the time. When Dean was out getting pissed or sommat I used’ta convince her t’get take out since she didn’t ‘ave’ta cook an’all, an we’d eat it while watchin’ movies. She used’ta get sweet an’ sour chicken an fried rice an noodles an a few egg rolls that we’d split, but there’d always be one left ova, an’ she got t’eat it if the movie we was watchin ‘ad a kiss in th’rain, an I got it if it didn’t. She got it more’n you’d think,” he added with a grin, his plate sufficiently piled high enough for him to sit back and start to actually eat it. “I got a weird affection for Chinese, ‘s all ‘m sayin,” he managed around a mouthful of sauce-laden chicken.

Harry loved the way Eggsy's face lit up when he talked about his family. He became completely relaxed, his face open, expression happy. Of course, this was a new development. Ever since they moved into the new house and away from that dreadful man, in fact. "That sounds like a lovely time, actually." He commented, absently putting a little bit of everything on his plate. "That Dean fella hasn't bothered your mother since you've moved out, has he? Because I'd be more than happy to take care of him. Make him disappear somewhere in Siberia with no means of ever getting back."

“’an I’d letya,” he grumbled after swallowing. “Nah. After I paid ‘em a visit ‘e sorta backed off. ‘fink the divorce papers are goin’ through, actually,” he said with a shrug, spearing a bit of chicken on his fork rather bitterly. “Least ‘e’s on the outs, y’know? I try’n stay around mum enough t’make sure she’s alright.”

He hummed thoughtfully and made a mental note to ask Merlin to speed Mrs. Unwin's divorce papers along. The sooner that man was out of their lives, the better. "You're all welcome to stay here if the need arises," he said once he'd swallowed a delicious piece of sweet and sour chicken. "Although, I'm not sure your mother would approve of you having me as a roommate. I know she's tried to warn you off me at least twice since I introduced myself last month."

Eggsy laughed. “Tried t’warn me off ‘angin around the bloke ‘ho told her my dad was dead? Can’t imagine why she’d not be so keen on you.” He shook his head, but nudged Harry’s shoulder with his knee to emphasize how lightly he meant that. “’preciate th’ offer, Har. But I think I can take ‘im if ‘e ever shows is ugly mug ‘round our house again.” He said this so casually it would be easy to miss the slight shaking of the hand with the fork in it. He was doing his best not o get angry at even the idea of Dean.

He hummed once as if snapping himself out of his train of thought and leaned forward again, enough to grin at Harry. “I’m gonna put on the movie, yeah? Go ‘head an do your work or whatever it is you do.”

"Well, I know a dismissal when I hear one," Harry said with a smile and shuffled, rather ungracefully, back to his place at the other end of the couch. He brought his knees halfway up to his chest and rested a stack of papers against them for easier reading though he was careful not to get any sauce on his papers unless he wanted to hear Merlin bitch and moan about it for far longer than was necessary.

Seeing movement in his peripheral vision, Harry calmly remarked, "If I catch you taking a picture of me in this position, rest assured you will pay greatly next time we exercise together."

“….” Eggsy just looked over at him with a pout. “Can you count it as part of a trainin exercise, then?” He started to grin, tilting his head with interest. That wasn’t a bad idea, actually. A picture like that on his phone would be worth virtually anything he could throw at him as ‘punishment.’ “’f I can snag one without y’realizin it, I can keep it~?”

Harry seemed to think it over. He put his half eaten plate on the coffee table and wiped his mouth with a napkin. "I think the more appropriate question is why you /want/ to have pictures of me on your phone?" He gave Eggsy a raised eyebrow as he looked at him over the rim of his glasses. "If you can give me a 'no bullshit, 100% honest' answer to that question then we have a deal."

That took Eggsy aback. He was expecting a few different responses, and that was none of them. “… Well,” he started, deciding to go ahead and give him an honest answer, though one that may not be the entire truth. “… ‘s nice t’ave evidence y’ain’t always an intimidatin posh bloke ‘ho could kick my arse at th’drop of a hat, y’know? Big ol’ scary Harry Hart can lounge around in pajamas like th’rest of us common types,” he said with a grin, rather pleased with his answer.

Harry pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and looked back down at the stack of papers. He'd not expected such a frank answer from the get go. "Yes, people do tend to forget I am more than a killing machine." His voice trailed off for a bit after that, a faraway expression settling over his features. But it soon cleared, not giving Eggsy a chance to comment on it. With a clear of his throat, Harry gave the young man a small nod. "Very well. We have a deal. But you're not allowed to share those pictures with anyone. Not even Roxy. Or God forbid, Merlin. He already thinks..." He cuts himself off abruptly. "Never mind that. Watch your movie now."

So pleased he almost bounced, Eggsy settled into his seat, starting to come up with a plan to take him by surprise. He focused on the film, stuffing food in his mouth every so often, and doing his best not to glance over at Harry, especially when he saw him move out of the corner of his eye. That’s what the movie was for, to hold his attention.

Harry could feel the boy vibrating with excitement and whenever he looked over at him, Eggsy was either eating - messily, of course, because why would you even want to use utensils when you could use your fingers? - or smiling absently at the TV.  And since Eliza Dolittle was crying on screen, Harry knew Eggsy wasn't paying any attention to the movie.

With a slight shake of his head Harry stood up and went to pour himself a drink, ignoring the pair of eyes that followed him around the room.

“’ey Harry, y’know what I jus’ realized?” Eggsy was grinning rather broadly, looking at him where he was pouring his drink over his shoulder. “This bloke’s name is ‘Henry Higgins,’” he over emphasized the name, taking special care to pronounce the ‘H’s he normally would have left off. “’s like ‘Harry Hart,’ innit? ‘er name starts with an ‘E’ like me, too. Though I talk be’er.” He sniggered and returned his attention to the movie. “’ow’s this fuckin thing end, anyway…” he muttered to himself, picking up the box and looking at the synopsis on the back as though it would suddenly give away the ending. He couldn’t for the life of him remember what it was. She was supposed to marry some bloke, wasn’t she?

Harry bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from smiling. He poured himself a glass and downed it all it all in one go then pulled himself another if he was to go through with this discussion. "Are you seriously implying I am Henry Higgins and you are Eliza Doolittle? Is there something you want to tell me?" He grabbed the box from Eggsy's hands and put it away. "Had you paid any attention to the movie so far instead of trying to think of ways to photograph me, you'd know how she feels about him. And that's all I'm going to say about it."

“I’m jus’ sayin,” he laughed lightly, grinning at him. “’s a lotta similarities ‘ere. An how d’you know I ain’t watchin? Been lookin’ right at it this whole time.”

Conveniently, his phone was in his hand now.

"Yes, with the goofiest of smiles on your face while Eliza Doolittle was crying and screaming at Henry. Clearly, you are very into this movie." He deadpanned and sat down on the other edge of the couch, very carefully not commenting on the phone in the young agents' hand. He was quite curious to see just how subtle Eggsy would be.

“I don’t know what you’re on about,” Eggsy sniggered, fingers typing something on his phone while looking in his lap. “Work’s goin good, yeah?” He asked idly, looking up at the telly once he was done. “What’re you even doin?”

"Merlin's asking for new toys," he said, bending down to grab the stack of papers from the floor and dumping them in his lap. "And for new toys, we need funds. So, he sent me /this/. All the people who's ass I need to kiss in order to get those funds." Harry shook his head, his expression one of mild amusement. "That man will stop at nothing to get what he wants."

Eggsy listened, his head turned and his eyes on him, for once a neutral expression on his face. “Don’t sound like fun t’me. Glad I ain’t gotta do much arse-kissin’. Ain’t exactly my specialty,” he added with a chuckle. The phone in his lap snuck just above his arm strategically positioned in holding his knee, and quickly he pressed the small button on the side of his phone to snap the silent picture, letting the phone fall in his lap as he cricked his neck and stretched out his arms. “Desk duty even a’ home sounds like hell~”

"Oh you're quite good at kissing ass," he remarked mildly, giving up on the stack of papers and throwing them back on the floor. He'd have preferred to put them on the coffee table but it was full of take-out containers and he didn't care much for tidying up right now, anyhow. "It all depends on whose ass you're kissing, of course."

On screen, Eliza and Henry were kissing in the middle of the street. Harry pointed to the T.V. "Do you still think there are a lot of similarities between Henry and Eliza and us?"

His eyes flitted to the screen to see the on-screen kiss, and while he couldn’t fight the redness that flushed up his neck at his question, he hadn’t lost control of his tongue quite yet, not enough to make an arse out of himself like he’d done previously. “I ‘fink that kiss ain’t in the rain so I’m gettin’ that egg roll,” he sniggered, though was actually rather full and had no intention of eating it. He did, however, think maybe his drink could use some freshening. Especially if Harry was going to make comments like that. He hopped up with the glass to go help himself to more of Harry’s liquor stock.

Well that didn't exactly answer his question but he wasn't about to force the topic. Especially when alcohol is involved, Harry thought as he watched Eggsy help himself to more liquor.

Dragging his eyes away from the young man, Harry noticed the phone, face down on the couch. His fingers itched to grab it. He hadn't noticed Eggsy actually taking a picture of him but then again, he was a Kingsman. He had been trained in the art of subtlety even though sometimes one couldn't tell.

Harry glanced up. Eggsy had his back turned at him, oblivious. Now was the chance to act. And really, that's all the convincing Harry needed. Silent and quick as a mouse, Harry leaned over and snatched Eggsy's phone then slipped it in his robe's pocket. By the time Eggsy's turned around, Harry was sipping from his drink and staring at the movie credits rolling on the screen.

Eggsy walked casually back over and flopped back in his seat, not noticing anything amiss. He sipped his own drink, looking over to Harry once he noticed the movie had finished. “So ‘ow long till y’kick me out, eh?”

To which Harry replied, "Get out." But it was delivered with a smile he couldn't quite smother in time, making it pretty obvious that he didn't mean it.

But Eggsy decided to play along. Shrugging, he hopped up, setting the glass down on the table as he stood, casually turning as if for the door. “Alright~”

Later, when Harry will look back on this, oh believe me, he will, he will be mortified at the way his expression almost comically turned to one of shock. "What? That was a poor attempt at a joke. Sit back down." He blurted out before he could stop himself.

As he was already standing, Eggsy just laughed and walked around the back of the couch, folding himself over the back of it so he was leaning beside him, their shoulders touching again and heads rather close together as he chuckled by his ear. “I got it, by the way.”

Harry resisted the urge to turn around. Eggsy's was...sinfully close to him now. So close that his hot breath caressed the shell of Harry's ear as he spoke, sending pleasant shivers up and down his spine. Damn.

Swallowing hard, Harry tried to get his brain back to its full gear. "That may be true but you were rather careless when it came to hiding the evidence. Tell me, where is your phone right now?"

This took Eggsy off guard. He blinked, his hands going to his pockets as his eyes went to his seat. Both came up empty.

“…. You bastard,” he laughed, not even finding it in himself to be annoyed. “Where’re ya keepin it, eh?” He prodded his side, rather playfully.

Harry's long fingers wrapped around Eggsy's thin wrist, stilling the other's movements. When he turned to look at Eggsy, he looked incredibly smug and far too pleased with himself. "Now what makes you think it’s on my person?"

Defiantly, Eggsy wrinkled his nose, though most of his thought was directed to trying to mentally still his heart. Harry’s fingers were right there on his wrist, he could easily tell the moment his pulse started to speed up, which it did the moment he had positioned himself so close to him. He almost regretted it now, but couldn’t quite find it in himself to do so. His face was right there, his stupidly smug, handsome face, he just needed to tilt his head the slightest bit—

Eggsy wrenched his face away, looking at the coffee table, and then over to the liquor cabinet. “… Process of elimination,” he said after a moment, trying to keep his wits. “Ain’t nowhere y’coulda stashed it since I nicked the picture.”

"Well, that's where you're wrong," Harry replied, his voice unusually soft, though he took no notice of it. "It took you a minute and a half to pour yourself that second glass. Then you drank a little from it and topped it off again. So all in all, you had your back turned to me for a good three minutes." His thumb was stroking the inside of Eggsy's wrist as he spoke, right on top of the young man's frantic pulse. "I'm quick and quiet on my feet, I have been a spy for over 30 years, after all, so there are more than a dozen hiding spots in the vicinity of this couch. But let's say, I haven't moved from my seat. What about this couch? I could have easily slipped it between these two cushions. Or kicked it under the coffee table." Smug couldn't even describe how Harry looked right now.

The hand still lingering at Eggsy’s wrist, lightly touching his skin, was enough to send tingles down his spine, to fuel the urge to shut his smug face up by capturing and tasting those antagonizing lips. If he was embarrassed at himself now, he’d be mortified if he stayed there much longer. Regretfully, he pulled away, lest he do something they both regretted.

Straightening up behind the couch, he took a few steps back around to his seat, standing next to it and looking at him with raised eyebrows (and, as always, a slightly pink face). “Don’t think y’did that, bruv. Call it intuition, call it thinkin’ y’re entirely too smug, but I ‘fink y’got it on your person.” He was smirking, not quite smug.

“Hm, believe what you will,” Harry said, his shoulders rising in a slightly shrug. “but since you were careless enough to leave your phone unattended, you’ll have to come up with other ways to get it back.” He leaned forward for his drink and took a sip, looking completely at ease. As if he hadn’t just been within kissing distance of Eggsy, as if his fingers weren’t itching to pull the man back to him and just _touch_ , make that lovely blush of Eggsy’s bloom until it took over his entire neck and cheeks. Wouldn’t that be a lovely sight?

His embarrassment was made worse by Harry’s utter nonchalance. Nothing? Not a hint of anything wrong? His smirk was falling, the corners of his lips twitching as if he tried to force it to stay. He was foolish for thinking there would be any hint of mutual nervousness, or reciprocation of any of the things that got his own heart racing. He sat himself back down in his seat, legs folded, head pointed mostly to the ground, though as he spoke he tilted it towards him enough to look at him out of the corner of his eye.

“Other ways, hm? Like what, eh?” His lips twitched again. “Sorta at your mercy here, bruv. Till y’stand an’ I can try’n pick-pocket ya, at least.”

Well that earned Eggsy a genuine smile. "Pick-pocket me? I'll certainly love to see you try." He hadn't been successfully pick-pocketed in years, not since he'd finished his training, actually. Well, there had been that one time a couple of years ago when he'd been rather drunk and Merlin managed to slip one past him but that one doesn't count, no matter what Merlin claimed.

"Help me clear these, will you?" He asked, downing the rest of his drink before standing up.

Hopping back up, Eggsy stretched, his spine popping as he twisted. “Yeah, alright,” he said agreeably, starting to gather the various food packages strewn on the coffee table. Notably, he was still not looking directly at Harry.

“Would you like to take the leftovers home?” Harry asked, carefully sidestepping the papers on the floor as he started for the kitchen, carrying their plates in one hand and a couple of takeout containers in the other. “I’m sure Michelle would love to get that extra egg roll,” he said, teasingly.

He put the plates in the sink to be washed later then started looking through the containers to see what could be salvaged and what they could throw out.

Eggsy piled up the rest of them in his arms and followed him to the kitchen, balancing them rather easily. He set them out along the counter, grabbing the empty ones (he had eaten quite a bit, gracious) and tossing them in the bin. “Yeah,” he grinned, starting to recover himself again. “’m sure she would. ‘f y’don’t mind,” he nodded, casually eyeing him, looking for a window to try to pick his pocket.

Seemingly oblivious to Eggsy's plans, Harry searched through his cabinets for something to put the leftovers in. "Of course not, though I'm sure she'll see this as the bribe it is and refuse to eat it."

Once he found what he was looking for, Harry started moving the food from one container to another. "Hand me some napkins, please?" He extended his hand, not bothering to look away from the task at hand. "Whenever there's sauce involved, I always seem to make a mess of things."

“So you said,” Eggsy grumbled. Nevertheless, he grabbed some of the napkins and made his way to hand them over, stepping behind him as he went under the guise of continuing to move on as he subtly tried to dip his fingers in one of the robe’s pockets.

The second Eggsy stepped too much into Harry's personal space, he knew the younger man was up to something. He couldn't stop the tension of his shoulders but aside from that there was no other indication that Harry was paying Eggsy any attention. Until his mouth decided to run away from him again and he asked, "Would you like to spend the night?"

Eggsy’s hand immediately froze, fingers twitching, and he withdrew it. He stopped moving just behind him, his jaw clenching. He did that on fuckin purpose.

“….Er. … Yeah. Yeah sure,” he muttered, humming a noise in his throat.

"Good. Lovely." Harry forced out, taken aback by Eggsy's response.

No, no. That wasn't supposed to happen. Eggsy was supposed to become so flustered that he'd just demand his bloody phone back and Harry, because he was a gentleman, would give it to him and he'd smooth things over, maybe make him smile a bit and Eggsy would then go home with his phone and that would be that. Of course, he hadn't taken into account that this was Eggsy he was dealing with and the man was the most unpredictable person Harry had ever met.

"You should probably call your mother and tell her you'll be staying here," he paused and when he spoke again, he was clearly amused. "You can use the phone in my office."

“’ow bout _my_ phone tha’s in your pocket?” Eggsy rolled his eyes, folding his arms and leaning on the counter a good several paces away from Harry. “Almost ‘ad it there.” He was smirking now, a rather self-assured smirk.

"Hm, yes. The key word there being _almost_ ," Harry responded, sounding none too impressed. "A good Kingsman agent is supposed to use every weapon at their disposal." He looked at Eggsy with a raised eyebrow. "We both know you haven't done that."

“… ‘f you ‘adn’t distracted me…” Eggsy grumbled again, but a grin was growing on his face as he looked over to him. “I’ll get that phone back, Mr. Hart.” He sniggered and stood again, making to help him get everything that needed to be kept together and somewhere where he could grab it in the morning.

‘Every weapon at their disposal’ had given him an idea.

"Ah, so you knew I was trying to distract you," Harry said, handing Eggsy the sealed containers to be put in the fridge. "And yet you still said 'yes' to staying over. Interesting." Harry's mouth is twisted into a self-satisfied smile.

“Well ‘s late, innit?” Eggsy said rather defensively, taking the plastic containers to Harry’s refrigerator, hovering and taking a look inside as he continued to speak. He was curious what sort of things he kept in there. “’an I walked ‘ere. It’s only… _pragmatic._ ” He closed the door with a grin, his head tilting. “’nless y’ _were_ only tryin’ t’distract me. Still time for me t’get walkin,” he hummed, bluffing.

Harry's fridge was embarrassingly empty and if he weren't so well trained, the slight embarrassment he was feeling right now as Eggsy peeked in the fridge would have been all over his face. He binned the remaining take out containers then washed his hands. "I think you just like hearing me ask you to stay the night," he remarked, calling Eggsy's bluff. He wiped his hands dry. "Now go call your mother. I don't need her any more cross with me than she already is. Heaven knows what she'll think I'm doing to you tonight as it is," he muttered under his breath, clearly meant only for his ears but the kitchen was relatively small so the sound travelled.

Eggsy’s eyes widened, and his tongue failed him, any witty remark dying before it was even formed. The ever-present redness creeped up along his neck as he turned to walk to the office Harry had mentioned, his steps far too even.

Harry watched Eggsy's retreating back, looking somewhat amused but also mortified at his own behavior. This was just wasn't like him. It wasn't gentleman-like behavior. Of course, his manners all put flew out the window the moment he started becoming comfortable with someone. It didn't happen often. Quite rarely, in fact. Merlin was the only one who had been subjected to Harry's dry humor and sarcastic comments. With everyone else from Kingsman he was a perfect gentleman. Until Eggsy came along. It seemed the younger man was bent on throwing Harry's life upside without even realizing it. Because that's just the luck Harry Hart had.

He looked at the watch. Nearly 10. He was nowhere near tired enough to be able to sleep right now. There was no other choice, however. He'd rather not embarrass himself and Eggsy more tonight. He had his training but there was only so much he could stand.

Turning off the light in the kitchen, he headed for the living room and started tidying up, shutting off the TV. Putting the CD back in its case which went back in the collection then he tidied up his papers to deal with the tomorrow.

And then, because he had a little time to spare, Harry took out Eggsy phone, unlocked it with a swipe of his thumb - seriously Eggsy? No lock on your phone? - and searched for the picture he'd snatched of Harry. Too quickly, Harry found it. Hm. It wasn't the most flattering of pictures. You couldn't even see all of Harry's face clearly but there was no mistaking who he was. His robe all but gave him away. All in all, not a bad picture. He figured Eggsy could keep it.

As soon as he was out of Harry’s line of sight, he permitted himself a grimace, one of his hands tightening into a fist. He was torturing himself, he knew. But he couldn’t have said no. Fuck, he was in this too deep.

Eggsy had stalled once he had gotten to the office. Just as he remembered it, tacked up covers of _The Sun_ lining the walls, and he smiled rather fondly at the newest edition, ‘Bad Day for a V Day’ hanging up as crisp as if it were printed yesterday. He’d taken up Harry’s habit too, at his casual mention of it. He figured years down the line he would be quite appreciative of the mementos, though his own were much more subtly kept in a binder back in his room at home. He only had the one entry, ‘Bad Day for a V Day’, but it was a pretty good start, he thought.

After admiring the wall, he turned his attention to Harry’s desk. Unable to help himself, he plopped himself down in the desk chair, leaning back and smirking to himself. It was an odd sort of comforting, to be surrounded by everything so completely Harry. It was his office, after all, so every inch from the décor to the scent lingering in the air screamed of him. He almost hated how relaxed it made him, how much it felt like the concept of ‘home.’ His house with his mother didn’t exactly feel like home, to him. It was the place he stayed, the place his mother and sister lived, the place that had his belongings, but it wasn’t home. Home was warmth and comfort and acceptance, home was letting yourself relax into chairs and melt with a sense of belonging, as he was doing now. Home was familiar colours and sights and smells, everything he felt right now. If Harry let him, he’d never leave. He was far too happy.

Finally, unable to stall any longer, he slid open the drawers until he found the land line phone nestled in a charging base. He picked it up and gave it a sour look – when was the last time he’d used a _land line?_ – and mechanically dialed his mother’s cell number.

After a few rings she picked up, her voice rather guarded. “Unwin residence.”

“Ey, Mum,” Eggsy grinned, letting the smile into his voice. “Sorry, ‘s me. ‘m usin someone else’s phone.”

“Eggsy!” Her voice instantly shifted to worry, and he could hear her feet move as she inevitably started to pace. “You didn’t come back an’ I got worried – is everythin okay?”

“Yeah, course,” he reassured her gently, his eyes closing as he let his head fall back against the chair. “Went t’ a friend’s house. ‘fink I’m goin t’spend the night here.”

“Why didn’t you just text,” she sighed, sounding mildly annoyed. “God, I thought you’d been mugged or something.”

“That’s a long story,” he chuckled. “But yeah mum, everythin’s fine. I’ll be back tomorrow, yeah? Kiss Dais g’mornin for me in the mornin.”

They said a fond good night and Eggsy hung up the phone, pleased he didn’t need to elaborate on just _which_ friend he was with. He didn’t look forward to _that_ conversation.

Taking a deep breath, he put the phone back on its charging dock and stood up, stretching, enjoying the time he had to get himself back to normal. He was feeling much more himself, much less flustered.

“Done, ‘arry,” he called, stepping out of the room with his hands in his pockets.

“Did you tell her I said ‘Hi’?” Harry appeared from the living room, phone in hand, not even trying to hide it from Eggsy’s gaze. He waited until Eggsy zeroed in on it before he slipped it back in his robe’s pocket nonchalantly. He could already see Eggsy working out through different tactics to reclaim what was his and truly, it was a secret pleasure of Harry’s to watch him work it out.

“Let me show you to your room,” he said and started for the stairs. “And how is little Daisy doing?”

Raising an eyebrow and smirking with pursed lips, Eggsy let the phone go. He had only confirmed what he was certain enough of to begin with. It was indeed on his person. Very well. He could play this game.

“She calls me ‘Egg’ now,” he said with a light laugh as he started to follow him up the stairs. “’an everythin’ sweet is ‘cake.’ She’s a cute kid,” he hummed, his eyes on the pocket. Yes. The pocket. His fingers twitched at his side, itching to try and take it, but he knew better. It would be pointless to try now. He’d wait.

"She sounds adorable," Harry hummed thoughtfully. They passed several closed doors before Harry finally stopped in front of a door. He pushed the door open and turned on the light. " I hope this is all right. The sheets haven't been changed in a week," he said, looking genuinely embarrassed to be speaking such words. "But I assure you they are clean." He cleared his throat and looked down the hall. "The bathroom is two doors down on the left and my bedroom is," he pointed straight across the hall. "right here." He turned to leave for his bedroom then stopped. "Oh, and try not to trigger any alarms. I'd rather not wake up the whole neighborhood again. Good night." He said and winked. Clearly this wasn't the last he expected to see of Eggsy before dawn.

With a rather self-satisfied smirk, Eggsy nodded and said a polite ‘Thank you’ and ‘Good night’ in return, slipping into the guest room and closing the door behind him. He grinned to himself as he leaned his weight against the closed door, his plan for retrieving his phone mostly solidified in his mind. It was fairly simple, sneak into his room while he slept, one he didn’t doubt Harry would account for. Which was rather a large part of the reason he was so pleased. Harry wouldn’t make it easy for him. This would be an interesting test of his abilities indeed.

He kicked his shoes off and took off his hat and jacket, falling onto the surprisingly soft bed with a grunt. Now to wait for the sounds of Harry bustling about to fade away, for him to be safely presumed ‘asleep.’

Harry, for once, took his sweet time getting ready for bed. He suspected Eggsy was listening to him move around the house so he hadn’t bothered being quiet about it either. Once he’d relieved himself and brushed his teeth, Harry started on getting his suit ready for tomorrow morning. And then because he was a right bastard, he took to simply walking around the room for a good fifteen minutes just to grate on the younger man’s nerves. All in all, it was a good half hour before Harry finally slipped in bed, Eggsy’s phone under his pillow, and turned off the light. And waited.

Eggsy’s smirk was a rather annoyed grimace by the time he finally stopped hearing the older man muck about in his room. If he didn’t know better, he’d say he was doing this just to spite him.

Granting an extra fifteen minutes to count on him falling asleep, Eggsy finally – barefoot and changed into simple pajama bottoms – slunk out of his room. He glanced around, almost in paranoia, before creeping as silently as he could make himself to Harry’s room and pushing the door open, his eyes falling on him to check and see if he was out.

Harry had perfected this in all his years of being a spy. Body relaxed and pliant, deep even breaths, eyes not too tightly shut, expression slacked and open, even peaceful. Oh yes, he had this.

Eggsy didn't stand a chance. 'This is going to be rather fun', he thought just as the door to his bedroom opened.

To a rookie agent, he was very convincing. Deeming him asleep, Eggsy quietly stepped into the room and started the search for his damned phone. The first place he looked was obviously the robe Harry had set hung up in its place, but of course, he was not so lucky. He made a quiet noise of annoyance, turning to look back around the room. His feet made soft patting noises as he walked across the hardwood floor, checking Harry’s dresser, the chair in the corner, the suit he found out of place, all to no avail.

Sighing, he made his way over to Harry’s bedside to check if it was on the table or in the drawer there. Without prying too much, he looked away as soon as he saw it was nowhere to be found.

That left on his person. Shit.

Biting the inside of his lip, Eggsy was now eyeing him, realizing now he had no idea if Harry was a light or heavy sleeper. Logically he’d have to be fairly light, a Kingsman agent would need to respond to the slightest hint of threat, but he was praying to whatever gods were out there that Harry did not wake up now. Delicately, he pinched the corner of Harry’s bedding and started trying to peel it away.

Harry had to hand it to him, Eggsy was incredibly light on his feet. Anyone else who hadn't been trained to listen for the faintest of sounds, wouldn't have known he was in there. Harry couldn't help but be proud of his protégé in that moment.

Of course, his whole act came to an abrupt stop when Eggsy tried to peel the bedding away and a snort escaped Harry. "This is usually how very bad porno movies start, you realize." His voice sounded loud in the otherwise quiet of the room.

“….. Fuckin’ hell.”

Eggsy dropped his hand as heat rushed to his face faster than he could even register. “Dickhead,” he huffed, and tossed the bedding off of him anyway, not even finding it in him to be hindered by his embarrassment at the moment, that would surely come later. As long as he was here, he was getting what he came for. And as long as he was throwing off his sheets in Harry’s room at night…

He hopped up on the bed, knees on either side of him to keep him from moving (something he was aware Harry could easily get out of if he truly wanted); his eyes were scanning for where he was keeping his phone as he went on, a grin in his voice. “’ow would you know ‘bout pornos, y’phone stealin prick.”

Harry chuckled, seeming unaffected by the fact that Eggsy was straddling his hips, as if he was right where he belonged. His hands, as if having a mind of their own, settled on top of Eggsy's thighs and if that weren't enough, Harry started drawing random patterns with his forefinger. His eyes never once left Eggsy's face. _'I bet his cheeks would be hot right now if I were to touch them,_ ' Harry thought then forced himself to snap out of it. Now was not the time, clearly.

"Oh, I've partaken in quite a few to know what they entail, thank you very much."

Eggsy literally shivered. How was Harry so calm, so seemingly uncaring about this? If Harry had been coming on to him, he’d be a bloody nervous wreck. But he didn’t even seem surprised. Was he misreading things?

Not immediately finding the phone, Eggsy decided to go for broke. He was already here, and if he needed to do a little ‘searching’… Well, it would help if Harry were distracted.

Feeling comforted by the cover of darkness, Eggsy leaned down and pressed their lips together, the building anxiety over his feelings for Harry forcing the kiss to be hungrier than he’d intended. Before he lost his mind or his purpose, his hands felt along him lightly, looking for the phone, and found nothing. Fuck.

Harry should have seen this coming but somehow when soft, plump lips settled on top of his own, he couldn't stop the gasp that escaped him. It was a distraction technique, Harry wasn't dumb enough to think otherwise but he did plan on making the most out of it.

One hand slid up and rested along the side of Eggsy's neck, pulling the young man further against him while his other hand gripped his waist and held him in place. Eggsy's kiss was rough and slightly uncoordinated in the dark. So Harry slowed things down a bit. He nipped and licked at Eggsy's lower lip until the younger man opened up and let him in. It took a bit longer than he'd have thought for Eggsy to give and Harry was close to growling in frustration by that time.

So when his wish was finally granted, Harry thrust his tongue in and explored every inch of that lovely mouth with barely contained hunger, leaving both of them panting and breathless.

Of course, he was aware of movement somewhere around his head, but he paid it no mind at the time.

Christ it felt good to kiss Harry. He’d almost forgotten what it was he had done this for, the reason behind the insanity, and his hand stilled for a few seconds when he felt his tongue in his mouth. He’d have to find reasons to distract him more often.

But he was a mark, technically. Eggsy couldn’t afford to lose his own concentration. So while he rubbed his tongue against Harry’s – tasting of fresh and cold mint toothpaste that bit – and trying not to love it as much as he did, his hand slipped under Harry’s pillow to finally grab the phone.

Triumphant, Eggsy broke away from him with phone in hand, grinning and panting lightly due to having the breath kissed right out of his lungs.

“…Y’re a right bastard.”

"I'd prefer the word 'opportunist' actually", Harry chuckled, though to his own ears it seemed forced. He'd managed to forget himself in that kiss for a moment there. Long enough for him to start believing that it was real, that Eggsy's reaction to his kiss was genuine and not just some front he was putting to keep him distracted. The realization left him more out of sorts than he'd have liked.

He forced his hands to let go of him while he still could and took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down his heartbeat. It was wildly out of control. "Good work, Galahad," he patted Eggsy's thigh and offered a smile, hopefully still visible in the dimness of the room. "Mission accomplished, I'd say."

As soon as the word ‘Galahad’ left his lips, Eggsy’s lips twitched downward and his chest ached. Galahad. His professional code name which implied that level of impersonality, of boss and employee rather than… whatever they were. He’d thought they’d graduated from ‘mentor and protégé’ to ‘friends,’ at the very least, but it seemed he was wrong.

Eggsy immediately climbed off him, tucking his phone in the pocket of his pajamas. “Heh. Yeah,” he said rather lamely. “Every weapon at my disposal, an’ all. But thanks f’lettin me get it back.” He was backing out of the room now, the air feeling like it was being sucked out for an entirely different reason. He was feeling suffocated, not pleasantly breathless.

"Eggsy," the name left his lips before his brain fully registered it. He only focused on the instant change in the young man. He knew it wasn't embarrassment because when Eggsy was embarrassed he rambled on and on until you had to physically shut him up. This was...this was different. He'd said something wrong though for the life of him, he couldn't figure out what right at this moment. Either way, Harry didn't like it.

In the blink of an eye, he found himself standing before Eggsy. He wanted to reach out and touch, comfort him somehow but he held back, uncertain of how welcome his touch would be. "What's wrong?"

“Nothin, don’t worry about it,” Eggsy lied with a plastered on smile, waving his hand dismissively as he continued to back away from him and out of the room. “I’ll see ya tomorrow, yeah?” He sounded distracted again, eyes not meeting his, that less than genuine smile still in place.

"All right then," Harry could see right through that fake smile but didn't push the subject. "Good night." The fact that Eggsy had felt the need to use that on him, to distance himself from him didn't sit well with Harry either. He watched silently as Eggsy walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. Now alone, Harry sat back down on the edge of the bed, heart heavy and feeling unusually distressed. He ran his fingers through his disheveled hair only to find his right hand shaking uncontrollably. Bloody tremor was back. Harry sighed. This was going to be a long night.

Eggsy immediately locked himself in his room. No, in Harry’s guest room. He didn’t even make it to the bed before he was sliding down the door and letting himself sit on the floor like a sulking child. He’d been so stupid. He’d let the game steer him to make dumb decisions. For god sake, he’d kissed his boss. He had stolen into his room at night, climbed on top of him, and forced a kiss on him. Granted, it was to distract him while he could nick his phone back, but he couldn’t lie to himself. It wasn’t because of that, it was justified by that. He’d been wanting to kiss Harry for months now, fantasizing about doing exactly that, but now that he’d done it… He felt rather empty. Harry had kissed him back, had the gall to play along and play the part of the smitten mark, only to pat him on the back and say ‘well done Galahad’ like he’d just improved his weapon scores. How dare he make Eggsy think that maybe, just maybe, he enjoyed it too? How dare he give him that hope and take it away the next instant?

He was suddenly angry now, hitting his own knee in frustration. Fucking hell. He had to know he was leading him on like this, didn’t he? Had to know that with everything he did, Eggsy became more and more infatuated? Was this some twisted kind of training on his part? Was he doing this to break and harden Eggsy’s heart to keep him free of the vulnerability of affection for someone? It seemed rather cruel, to him, that anyone would do that. And damn him, it was working. He could almost feel his heart breaking in his chest, a hand pressing flat against it and pushing down as though to alleviate the pressure of the ache inside.

Fuck this.

Standing suddenly, Eggsy gathered up his things, changing back into the clothes he had worn before he’d stopped by. He couldn’t stay here, not tonight. The last thing he wanted to do was have a confrontation with Harry in the morning. He had everything he needed rather quickly – he hadn’t brought much to begin with – and thrust open the window leaning out to see how far the drop was. Too far. Looking up, he could see that he could hop up onto the roof, and most likely make it out and on his way via the rooftops. Thanking his athleticism, Eggsy did just that, and started the long and annoying journey to get to Kingsman HQ, the only place he could think of right now that would be open to him.

Plus they had guns and a firing range. That sounded good right now.


	2. Arriving at the Resort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After an uncomfortable plane ride and an interesting car ride, Harry and Eggsy arrive at the couple's resort, anxious and awkward.

Harry couldn’t remember the last time he got in to work so early. Really, it was astounding.  It was 5.36 in the morning, the sun wasn’t even out yet and he found himself behind his desk. He was here willingly, mind you. He would have found it amusing if it weren’t for the problem that brought him here.

Eggsy’s early departure left him feeling restless and on edge the whole night. Harry couldn’t understand what had gotten into the boy to just grab his things and leave out the damn window in the middle of the night. He hadn’t even used the front door, probably in fear of Harry hearing him. So he chose to go out the window and climb up to the roof – it had been far too high a drop for him to do down, Harry checked – all to avoid _him_. If he wasn’t too busy being ticked off by such behavior, Harry would be impressed.

Harry had tried to sleep. He’d tossed and turned for the better part of the night but whenever he closed his eyes, the kiss he shared with Eggsy started to play on an indefinite loop, making it impossible for him to rest. So ultimately, he gave up.  He got up, he showered, he dressed and…here he was. Back behind the desk.

Harry pushed himself up to his feet. There was really only one person who could cheer him up right now. Merlin. And luckily for Harry the man slept here more often than not so he was always close by when you needed him.

And occasionally, he was looking for you too.

Bors was currently away on a mission in the United States, in California. What was about eight hours behind. Which meant Merlin had had a rather sleepless night. Needing to monitor him had Merlin waking up at one am and working through until the crack of early. He’d had a quick shower and changed his clothes into his last emergency set (although at this point, his clothing at home should be labeled the ‘emergency set’, he was there far less than he was here) before setting out to check on things he might have missed.

After awhile, he checked the security feed to see that Harry too had come in fairly early. Good, they should probably have a little chat. Staring down at the screen he balanced on his clipboard, Merlin rounded the corner to the hallway by Harry’s new office, footsteps echoing through the small space.

“You know, you’ll walk into a door if you don’t look straight once in a while,” Harry said as soon as he caught sight of his friend, eyes frozen on the screen before him. How he could walk like that was beyond Harry. “I was just coming to look for you. Any new developments?” He walked back into the office but went straight for the couch this time. He sat down with a heavy sigh.

“As a matter of fact, yes.” Merlin looked up long enough to walk into Harry’s office pointedly without running into things. He stopped by his desk across from Harry, leaning on the edge as he flicked through various screens. “Bors’ mission is going well. He’s gathered valuable information on a local millionaire that it seems we’ll be needing to keep tabs on. He is getting rather secretive of late which just so happens to coincide with his company’s recent outreach into Russia.” He looked up now with slightly narrowed eyes, stinging from looking at screens for so long. “He’s going to be posing as a potential investor in hopes of seeing any of the assets they may have there, so he will be out of commission for other projects for the time being. It’s taking longer than we’d hoped,” he added, with a light shrug. “But It’s necessary. His mission has officially been extended, as soon as you sign off on it.”

He held the clipboard to his chest now, his free hand pushing the glasses up his nose. “Although I was looking for you too, Harry. We need to talk about something else, providing you don’t have any questions on Bors.”

“Are we certain one man is enough for this mission?” Harry leaned back in his seat, crossing one leg over the other. “We are taking about the Russians here. They have a rather strict ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ policy. And Bors is relatively new in the field, I don’t want him to muck this up. Try to find a more experienced agent to go with him and I’ll sign off on it. Lancelot or Percival should do the trick.”

 “I can try, sir,” Merlin said with some amount of reluctance. “But adding more people to his cover story at this point might be tricky. I’ll see if I can assign Lancelot to act a young fiancée or some such.” He tapped a few things on the screen quickly, making note for later.

Before Merlin could get another word in, Harry held his hand up. “I’m not kissing arse for your new toys, Merlin. I don’t care what your argument is; I won’t do it.”

He looked back up with a contained half-smirk, his humour showing mostly in the muscle twitches beneath his eyes. “Pity,” he said, holding the look for a second or two before it dissipated.  “I’ll miss that.”

“I'm sure you will," Harry commented dryly. "But something tells me that's not what you wanted to talk to me about."

“Indeed.” Tapping the screen again, he pulled up a video feed live from his office, showing Eggsy fast asleep on the cot Merlin kept there for when he couldn’t go home. With one eyebrow raised, he held the feed up to show Harry, speaking rather coolly. “It seems your young protégé snuck into Headquarters last night, used our weapons training facilities, and broke into my bloody office.”

Harry only looked at the screen for a second or two before he tore his gaze away. "Ah, so that's where he'd run off to," he said lightly though he refused to meet Merlin's eyes.  "Better here than getting himself into unnecessary trouble, I'd say." He added with a slight shrug.

“Mm, I thought you might know something about this.” Setting the screen to the side, Merlin folded his arms over his chest, looking at him rather seriously. “What happened, Harry.”

"Oh don't give me that look," Harry huffed, resisting the urge to get up and pace. "I don't spend every waking moment with the boy. He doesn't tell me everything that goes on in that head of his so how should I know what happened?"

“ _’Ah, so that’s where he’d run off to,’_ I believe you said.” Merlin raised his eyebrows again, pressing his lips together briefly in impatience. “I’m thinking you _do_ know. But I’m not sure I want to. What you two do privately is no concern of mine, unless it interferes with our jobs. Tell me, Harry, is this going to be a problem? You’re both set to leave in,” he glanced at his watch. “36 hours.”

"I don't know," Harry sighed, sounding more frustrated with himself than Merlin's questions. "Because I don't know what the problem is. I don't know what went wrong. It was a game," he turned to look forlornly back at the sleeping figure on the screen. "He initiated, I responded. He's trained to expect the mark to respond to him. But then he bolted. He went out the bloody window to avoid me. The window, Merlin."

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Merlin sighed deeply. He’d sworn not to get involved in any of this, as they tended to forget when they had Kingsman glasses on he’d seen quite a good deal of their exchanges in person and in private; he’d figured it out quite awhile ago. But it wasn’t his place to say anything. The personal lives of his fellow agents were _none of his concern,_ he mentally repeated.

But really, how hard was this.

“Eggsy,…” he started, choosing his words carefully. “Probably has a lot on his mind. But if you manage to talk with him, I’m sure he’ll listen. The trick will be talking with him.” He frowned at the feed himself. “Anyway, the video shows he fell asleep only around an hour ago. Take some time to think and leave him be for now.”

He cleared his throat almost awkwardly, gathering his clipboard and tablet again, standing back up straight. “.. That’s all I have, sir.”

“Right. Thank you, Merlin,” he said, standing up. He straightened out his suit and walked over to his desk, his professional persona back in place. This was no place to discuss personal matters. He should have known better. “On second thought, wake Galahad up and send him home. He’ll be of no use to us today or tomorrow if he’s not rested properly.”

“As you wish,” he said simply, nodding his head once and turning for the door. He paused, however, hovering beside it to mention: “Oh, and Harry? You look a bit ill rested yourself. Maybe take some of your own advice, mm?” And with another more personal nod and the slightest twitch of a smile, he was gone, going to do as he’d asked.

Offering a small smile in return, Harry watched Merlin leave and close the door behind him. Merlin had a point. The lack of sleep was starting to get to him but Harry has handled worse. It wasn’t anything a couple of cups of coffee wouldn’t fix. So with a long-suffering sigh, Harry powered up his laptop and got to work.

Eggsy had been in the middle of a very needed nap when he was literally kicked awake, the firm sole of an oxford shoe prodding his face. He’d groaned, burying his face further into his crossed arms he was using as a pillow.

“Eggsy. Get up,” the low Scottish voice called from above him. Eggsy mumbled unintelligibly. “Galahad.”

Huffing, Eggsy sat up on the cot, rubbing at his face and mussed up hair. “Wha’s th’fuckin problem, eh?”

“You’re in my office.” Merlin stood there as sturdy as he always was, hands held at his side but somehow still vaguely intimidating.

“Oh. ... Yeah, guess I am.” He yawned, rubbing the back of his neck. “Sorry ‘bout that. The fuckin’ armchairs ‘round here are too fuckin stiff, couldn’t get t’sleep.”

“You should be sleeping at your home, Eggsy.”

He scoffed, throwing his legs over the edge of the rickety cot and pushed himself to stand, stretching his sore muscles. “Should be a lotta things,” he grumbled. “’m fine, I’ll jus’ go get t’polishin some’a the guns—“

“Go home, Eggsy.” Merlin’s voice was firm, though his eyes a bit more gentle. He could tell the boy was running from something, trying to keep busy, and he sympathized. But he had his orders.

“Come off it,” he said dismissively, scooping his hat up from where it’d fallen on the floor. “’m fine, I can do it oka—“

“Home. Your orders are to go home and rest. You’re of no use to us if you’re so tired you can barely function.” His words interrupted yet another yawn of Eggsy’s.

“My _orders_?” He asked, lowering his head and looking at him with skepticism. “From you? I appreciate it, bruv, but I ain’t gotta—“

“From Arthur, Eggsy. You’d do best to listen to them.”

At ‘Arthur’, Eggsy suddenly puffed up, scowling, his jaw set stubbornly. He didn’t say a word, simply shoved his fists into his pockets as he pushed his way out of the room, stomping down the hallway rather childishly.

Merlin called after him, yelling “Eggsy. Eggsy get back here,” to no avail. As he turned the corner, he’d groaned in annoyance, whipping his phone out to send a quick text message to Harry.

It had only been a half hour when his phone pinged with a text. It read: ‘Incoming – M’. Before Harry could figure out what that meant, his door was thrust open and a very put off Eggsy walked inside.

Oh boy.

Eggsy was scowling, grumpy as he walked in, hands still in his pockets rather defensively. “Y’re sendin me home?”

Harry pocketed his phone and took off his glasses, killing off the transmission as he did so. “What did you expect me to do, Eggsy? When I’m notified that my best agent broke into Headquarters in the middle of the night to spend hours shooting at imaginary targets only to then pass out from exhaustion…” Harry sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Are you going to sit down so we can discuss this like adults or are you just going to stand there and glare and pout at me all day?”

The thought seemed to be mildly tempting, as he stood there for a few seconds rather obstinately, but sighed and gave in, sitting himself in the chair gracelessly. “’m fine,” he said stiffly, though to his credit he was doing his best not to be as sulky and pouty as he was feeling. “Jus wanted t’get a jump on things an needed a rest, tha’s all.”

Harry’s eyes expertly tracked every movement Eggsy made as he sat down. From the tense set of his shoulders to the clenching of his jaw as he lied through his teeth.  The lack of eye contact was also a dead giveaway of just how ‘fine’ he actually wasn’t.

Stifling a sigh, Harry leaned forward in his chair and waited until Eggsy looked at him, no matter how briefly. He needed the young man to believe that his next words were genuine. “I would like to apologize for last night. I’m aware I crossed a line and that it made you uncomfortable.” he started. “It was a lapse in judgement on my part and I can assure you it won’t happen again.”

As he spoke, Eggsy’s eyes snapped to him and stayed there, confusion in them. He stared at him for a few moments before nodding, slowly. “… It was a mistake.” The muscle at the hinge of his jaw twitched as it clenched and unclenched. “I get that, Har.”

"Right," he cleared his throat and shifted in his chair. He'd wanted Eggsy's attention on him but now that he had it, it unnerved him. "I will try respond far less....enthusiastically during the mission. That is, if you still plan on coming with me?"

“Course,” his eyebrows raised, the anger starting to drain out of him. “Y’need back up.” _And no one can play the part of ‘besotted lover’ better than me_ , he added rather bitterly in his head. “Missions are missions, bruv, we do what we gotta.”

Harry couldn't stop from flinching. "How many times have I asked you to stop calling me that? It's funny when you do it to Merlin, for me it's just odd." His lips twisted in a faint smile. "I'd rather you call me anything else."

“Wha, ‘bruv’?” His lips twitched to a small smirk. “I call everyone ‘bruv.’ It really bother you that much?”

Harry shrugged, seeming much more at ease now that Eggsy was slowly thawing towards him. "I could learn to live with it. Unless you could be persuaded to change your mind."

“Wha’ else would’ja suggest then, eh?” He shifted a bit, relaxing.

Harry pretended to think about it for a while even though he already had a nickname in mind that he particularly enjoyed. "Well, I've noticed you sometimes call me 'Har'. I like that. Especially because you don't realize you're doing it most of the time."

“Do I?” He blinked, but shrugged, his smirk coming back little by little. “Fine, fine, I s’pose I can deal with that. Har~” He shook his head lightly, not really wanting to let go of the lightness the conversation had turned to. This would be fine. He would just have to relearn how to be around him. Stick to lightness when possible. He could do that. Maybe.

Although right when they were about to play the part of a couple was probably not the best time to start.

"Good." He replied, feeling slightly dazed at the turn their conversation had taken. His brain couldn't quite wrap around the fact that he'd just asked Eggsy to call him 'Har'. He could almost hear Merlin snort and say 'That was painfully pathetic to watch, Harry.' And God help him, it was.

"My order still stands," Harry broke the silence with a clear of his throat. "You need to go home and rest. Then you can have a look at this." He handed Eggsy a file. "It's your persona for the next week. I suggest you familiarize yourself with the basics, at least."

Eggsy took the file with a petulant eye-roll, but glanced at the inside briefly. “Yeah, alright,” he said with a light yawn. He really was very tired, and that was beginning to beat out his stubbornness. “’f you’re sendin me for the day I’ll have the thing fuckin’ memorized.”

Standing (his knee giving a light pop in protest), he gave a light mock salute, trying to be casual as he turned for the door. “Tell me yourself next time though, yeah? Rather not be wakin’ up t’Merlin’s foot in my fuckin face.”

"Oh, is that all he did?" He looked genuinely delighted and amused at the news. "I'm so happy he's starting to warm up to you. I knew it would happen sooner or later. The last time he found someone asleep in his office, he emptied a bucket of ice water on the poor lad.”

Eggsy snorted a laugh, shaking his head again. “I’ll count my blessin’s then,” he shot a grin over to him, a real grin. “Later then, Har.”

Harry nodded and said a weak 'goodbye'. His heart was somewhere in the vicinity of his throat as he committed the expression on Eggsy's face to memory. Yeah, he was aware how cheesy that sounded. No, he didn't care. The Merlin in his head sniggered and called him an idiot. Lovely.

Blinking away from the closed door, Harry put his glasses back on and sent Merlin a quick text that read: 'WWIII averted.  I assume you've already erased the recording you have of the discussion. - A'

\--

The file looked through and very nearly memorized, Eggsy was thoroughly prepared for this mission and frankly looking forward to it. He hadn’t gotten a whole lot of action since the events of V Day, nothing worth saving in the binder, anyway. He was getting to go off and play a part for a few days and do something that in some way, no matter how small (back up alone sufficed), mattered. And that’s what mattered most to Eggsy. He was very excited.

He was a little early, sitting in his normal street clothes with his suit in a folded bag on his lap (his other things already packed and on the plane), waiting for Harry. Even as weird as things had been the past few days, he was ready to leave it be. He’d thrown his tantrum, accepted the way things were, and was just looking forward to spending some time with his friend. He’d drown himself in alcohol when he got home, of course, but that was for future Eggsy to deal with. Present Eggsy was looking to get the show on the road. And as soon as Harry made his appearance, they could be on their way in one of the Kingsman private jets, perfect for appearances.

Harry caught sight of Eggsy first. Well, he noticed that dreadful hat of his that Eggsy insisted on wearing whenever he was in his 'street clothes'. He had yet to devise of a plan to burn those dreadful things but it was a priority on his 'To-Do' list. Perhaps he could make them illegal in Britain. He certainly knew the right people. Wouldn't that be a lovely thought?

He was smiling at his train of thought by the time he got to Eggsy. "There you are," he said, placing a hand on Eggsy's shoulder and giving it a light squeeze. "Ready to go?"

“Mm-“ Eggsy looked up at him with a smirk and nodded, standing and holding his bag to the side. “’s I’m gonna be.” Now that he was here, Eggsy started off for the doors, rather happily. “’ow long’s the ride? Two hours or sommat?”

Harry's hand dropped back to his side as he followed a cheerful Eggsy to the gate. "About two hours, yes. We can't get directly to the resort by jet. A car will be waiting for us to drive us there." And then he added. "You're awfully chipper this morning, what's going on?"

“’s bein in a good mood against the rules now?” He sniggered, glancing over his shoulder. “’m getting t’fuckin _do_ somethin. ‘m lookin forward to it.”

"Dare I hope," Harry reached out and grabbed the back of Eggsy's shirt, pulling him backwards and turning him around in one swift move. Which also left the young man unbalanced enough to fall against Harry's chest. "You're also looking forward to playing my lover?" He spoke softly, his voice barely a whisper.

Naturally, Eggsy’s face brilliantly lit up red, unable to look Harry in the eye. “I’ll be convincin, I promise,” he said with a light grin, fighting off the immediate speeding of his heart. He thought it might explode. _Damn_ him.

"Then look at me," Harry gripped Eggsy's chin and tipped it upwards. He ran his thumb over his jaw, his eyes never leaving the young man's face.

Fine, if he wanted to play it that way, Eggsy could play it that way. Was he supposed to be showing what he could do? To be proving he could do this? That’s fairly easy. It would be an odd sort of dance, like presenting one’s true self as a disguise. His green eyes settled on Harry’s soft brown ones, his grin still in place, pink tongue peeking out to lightly wet his bottom lip before he bit it briefly as he gaze flicked between his eyes. “Yes, Harry?”

Harry’s eyes darkened as he watched the little display before him. God, he was perfect. Those lovely flushed cheeks, brilliant green eyes and that mouth. Harry swallowed hard and licked his own lips in response. He would give anything to taste those lips again and maybe if he played his cards right…

“I’ll be the envy of that whole resort with you by my side.” He heard himself say and by the reaction on Eggsy’s face, he knew it had been the right thing to say.

Smiling faintly, Harry drew back and said, “Come on, let’s go.” Keeping a hand against Eggsy’s back, he steered the younger man towards the jet.

Eggsy was smiling too as he was directed to the plane, the muscle in his jaw twitching. He could do this, if that’s all it took. Lowering his barriers instead of dressing them up, behaving as he wished, all while repeating _‘it’s not real, it’s not real,’_ over and over in his mind to remember the truth. It would hurt, but if he could pretend by stopping his pretending, it might be worth it.

He ascended the stairs to the jet, winking at their Kingsman employed pilot, and taking a seat in one of the surprisingly cushy chairs just inside, taking a deep breath with his eyes closed.

The pilot, slightly pink in the cheeks – really Eggsy, was that really necessary? – turned to Harry and said, “We’ll be departing in 15 minutes, sir.”

“Thank you, Robert.” Harry said with a smile and followed Eggsy inside, taking the seat opposite of him. He leveled the young man with a raised eyebrow. “Harry Pendleton”, he pointed to his file with a smirk. “Does not share nicely, Eggsy. I hope you got that out of your system.”

“’ope he shares with Harry Hart at least, or sleepin’s gonna be weird. One bed, yeah?” He sniggered, crossing one leg over the other. “Promise, soon as we get there, Gareth Appleby’s only got eyes f’you~” He winked.

"Charming. We're both quite flattered," he said with a smile and dropped the file on the empty seat next to him. The 'seatbelt on' sign came on and Harry fastened his around his waist. "You have your earpiece, yes? We'll have to leave every other piece of technology behind as they don't allow distractions at the resort.  You can imagine how pleased Merlin was but he worked around it."

His eyebrows rose in surprise. He hadn’t read that part. Spies without gadgets? He would feel utterly naked. “Yeah, yeah all good. Glasses ‘n all.”

"Good, good." Harry waited another minute to see if Eggsy planned on fastening his seatbelt and when the young man, picture of innocence, did nothing, Harry...well. Harry did it for him.

Just as the jet started to move, Harry unfastened his own seat belt, leaned forward and searched around Eggsy's hips for the belts until he found them. He fastened it tightly then leaned back in his seat and refastened his own.

When his eyes met Eggsy's, Harry raised an eyebrow at him, daring him to comment.

Bright red and having squirmed around in his seat as Harry felt for the seatbelt, Eggsy looked away, his lips pressed together in a line. “… That worried the plane’ll crash are’ya.”

Harry swallowed hard and said nothing. There was no justifiable answer he could give for what he just did. He'd seen Eggsy do this each and every time they were in a plane. He just disregarded the rules and it drove Harry mad but he couldn't do nothing about it because Merlin had always been there. And now that they were alone, he just...acted.

"I'm hoping that if I embarrass you enough, you'll start following the rules like the rest of us." The sign for the seatbelts went off and Harry quickly unfastened his and stood up. He needed something to drink.

When the sign went off, Eggsy undid it again, glancing at him as he stood. “’s early, but ‘m gonna get changed, yeah?” He grabbed his bag and turned to excuse himself, needing… well, needing to pull himself together a moment and finding maybe that to be the best way. He slipped into the plane’s changing room, glancing at him again before he shut himself in.

The moment Eggsy shut himself in the changing room, Harry's shoulders visibly deflated amd he leaned heavily against the liquor cabinet. He was starting to think he was losing it. Maybe his recovery wasn't quite as over as everyone thought, maybe that bloody bullet hit something after all and his personality was slowly starting to change because of it.

Or perhaps he was experiencing some sort of middle life crisis. Only 10 years later than normal. Yeah, that had to be it. A midlife crisis over his young, unattainable protege. Great.

He straightened up and grabbed a water bottle instead then headed back to his seat and tried not to glance at the changing room door every 30 seconds.

He wasn't successful.

Eggsy dressed himself rather slowly, taking his time and taking his breath. It was fine, it was all going to be fine. He could do this, it wasn’t real, everything was fine. He chanted over and over in his mind, his fingers buttoning up the shirt, his tie perfectly sliding up, his jacket hanging off him in just the way that tailored things could. Eggsy took a deep breath as he placed his glasses on his nose, looking at himself in the mirror. Good. He could do this. _This_ Eggsy wouldn’t blush like a goddamned teenager whenever Harry got close to him.

He stepped out only a few minutes after he stepped in, fiddling with the sleeves of his shirt absently as something to occupy his attention as he returned to his seat, tossing the bag with his chav clothes in the seat beside him. He looked up at Harry with a smile, his confident, sure of himself smile, and raised his eyebrows just slightly. “Too much?”

By the time Eggsy's came out of the changing room, Harry was prepared.  He was composed. He could do this. He could act like a proper gentleman. He could -

His thoughts came to a halt as he caught sight of Eggsy in a suit that clung to him like a second skin. He looked....well, he looked like a model out of a magazine really. There was no other way to describe him. God, he was screwed.

"No, just right," he licked his suddenly dry lips and when that didn't help, he took a long drink of his water. "New suit? Haven't seen you wear it before."

“I know a good tailor,” he chuckled, one leg crossing over the other as he let himself slip into his high-class mannerisms, though keeping his accent for now. “Had t’get something nice ‘f I’m supposed t’be a millionaire’s boy-toy, yeah?” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. “Gotta look sharp~”

"Oh? Is that why you're with me then? For posh suits and expensive gifts?" Harry's lips twisted up in a teasing smile. "Tsk, tsk. I should have known our love was too good to be true."

“’m an expensive date, what can I say.” Eggsy grinned, tilting his head and looking out the window as the plane flew through the clouds. He fell silent then, simply watching outside, a small smile on his lips. He was doing well so far, not even a hint of pink.

Harry kept to himself the rest of the plane ride. They locked gazes on a couple of occasions but that was it. The silence wasn't uncomfortable but that was nothing new. Harry couldn't remember a time when it had been. He'd always found it peaceful and comforting, just sitting next to Eggsy, each minding their own business.

Once they landed and their bags had been moved from the jet to the car, Harry walked around to the driver's door and held out his hand. "I'll have the keys, if you will." His voice was polite but cool, leaving no room for argument.

The driver seemed at a loss of what to do. He had his orders from Merlin to drive Arthur and Galahad to their location. Merlin had been quite strict about that. But this was Arthur himself and his order surpassed any of Merlin's, didn't it? The driver, Ben, handed the keys over with clear reluctance. "Very well, sir. Have a safe trip." He said then headed over to the jet, praying to God this didn't just get him canned.

Harry looked at Eggsy and shrugged, a smile blooming on his face as he held out the keys to Eggsy. "I know how much you've wanted to drive these things. Just try not to drive us off a cliff."

Eggsy was beaming, looking quite delighted as he took the keys from him. “Off a cliff? Never.” He happily hopped in the driver’s seat, hands caressing the dashboard rather lovingly. “But speed limits are suggestions, yeah?” He grinned.

Harry slid in the shotgun seat just as his phone started to ring. He ignored it and buckled up. "There are no speed limits here, darling.  We're literally in the middle of nowhere. There's only one two-way road to and from the resort so you just need to follow that. You'll know when we get there."

“Even better.” As soon as they were both buckled up – and Eggsy made sure to over dramatically buckle his while looking at Harry – he revved the engine and sped off, a grin quite fixed to his face. He’d not gotten to show off any of his driving talent, not since he’d gotten thrown in the police station, and he was itching to do some driving.

Unperturbed by the speed at which they were going, Harry took out his phone - which had not stopped vibrating with incoming texts since he'd gotten in the car - and looked at the screen.  4 text messages and two voice mails from Merlin. Oh boy. "Merlin's not too pleased with us. Well, to be frank, with me. He thinks I'm driving." He shoots Eggsy a grin. "I'm an awful driver going by Merlin's standards. He's prohibited me to drive any Kingsman car two years into our employment. Apparently, I wreck them beyond repair."

“You wreck ‘em?” Eggsy spared a glance over to him, smirking. “You really that bad a driver, Har? Ain’t like it’s hard,” he sniggered, and glanced over at Harry’s phone, slowing the car down a bit. “Give that ‘ere?”

He huffed and handed the phone over, without a second thought. "I don't wreck them." He crossed his arms over his chest. "I just give them a different shape, is all."

“Is that all,” Eggsy chuckled, slowing the car further just in case, though there was no one else on the road, and pulled up Harry’s camera application. He held it in one hand and angled it to show that he was driving and Harry was in the passenger seat, and gave a big cocky grin. “Smile for Merlin~” Click.

Harry, of course, did no such thing but Eggsy didn't seem to mind, if the big grin was anything to go by. "Focus on driving, please," he said and snatched the phone back from Eggsy. Against his better judgment, he sent the picture to Merlin. And then he sent a copy to Eggsy's phone as well, don't ask him why.

“Ey, even distracted, ‘m a better driver than you bru—Har.” He winked, but did return his focus to the road, speeding the car up again now that it had his full attention.

_'Let's see how good a driver you are if I do this.'_ Harry thought and unbuckled his seatbelt. He leaned over, close enough to have his lips brush against the shell of Eggsy's ear. "Well if you're that good then I guess you'll just have to teach me," he whispered and then, to drive it all home, he placed his palm high up on Eggsy's thigh and squeezed.

Eggsy nearly choked. His grip on the wheel tightened as he swallowed; however confident he was in the suit, he would never have been prepared for that. He cleared his throat, ignoring the flush creeping up his face rather instantly. "...getting a jump on the mission, are we." He mumbled, pointedly keeping his eyes on the road.

However much he enjoyed seeing that lovely flush creeping up Eggsy's face, Harry was quite stuck on the fact that he brought up the mission. Again. It filled Harry with guilt and even disgust at his behavior because the mission had been the last thing on his mind.

He pulled back from Eggsy as if he'd been burned. Once he settled back in his seat, he looked at his watch, though he wasn't really seeing the numbers. "We're making good time," was all he said to that then fell quiet.

"...yeah." He responded rather emptily, grip on the wheel tight as ever. The silence that followed was rather uncomfortable. Eggsy was raging an internal war, arguing with himself over the significance of the gesture, growing angrier at himself as he did and unconsciously sped the car along even faster, whipping around turns more aggressively than was probably necessary.

Well if Harry wanted a tense and uncomfortable silence, he got it now. He’d never seen Eggsy quite this high strung outside of life and death situations. His eyes flickered over to the speedometer. 125 km/h and gaining speed. Right, that was enough. “Pull over, Eggsy.” He didn’t make it a request. It was delivered as an order though Harry’s eyes were soft and full of concerned as he looked over at him.

Glancing over at him and then to the speedometer, Eggsy deflated a bit and did as he asked, safely slowing down until they came to a suitable place to pull over. He parked the car and sat there, dropping his hands from the wheel, and kept his eyes focused forward, saying nothing.

Now came the tricky part. Harry has to choose his words carefully or he’ll run the risk of Eggsy shutting him out completely and that just wouldn’t work. It wouldn’t work for them personally or for the mission. “You knew what this mission would entail when you signed up for it,” he started, making sure to keep his voice soft and nonthreatening. “If you realized me touching you like that made you so uncomfortable, you should have gotten out. I wouldn’t have been offended.” God, that last bit hurt. It was true, he wouldn’t have been offended. He’d have quietly gone in a corner to lick his wounds but ultimately, he’d have resigned himself to the idea.

"Fuck, Harry..." He started, sighing and glaring out the window, redness flushing his face again. He was leaving him no choice. Swallowing hard, he took a breath before he started speaking; now or never. "How... Do you not know? I'm so _uncomfortable_ as you put it because I _want_ ya t'touch me like that. I jus' don't want it t'be an act. An every time you do I gotta tell me self 'this ain't real, this ain't real,' an it gets right _tiresome_ , Har. I begged t'go on this mission - and yeah, I did beg to go - so I could feel even a little bit like maybe ya wanted me back, even if it was fake. 'As why I bolted the other night. Knowin' you were so bloody nonchalant as ya faked it, when I loved and wanted it for so long, it fuckin hurt, bruv. It ain't a game t'me, not really. .... 'M sorry," he sighed, not daring to look at him. "...shoulda said somethin before this mission. ...selfish of me, I know." He tapered off, his jaw clenching and unclenching in worry for what Harry had to say in response.

The silence that descended in the car was deafening. Harry was…well, shocked to say the least. He’s staring straight ahead, blindly mind you. His hands are curled into fists, his nails digging hard enough into his palm to hurt. But he barely took notice of it.

He felt…blindsided. He thought he’d had it all figured out.  He wasn’t expecting _this._ And for the first time in more than a decade, he was totally unprepared. Unprepared to come clean to Eggsy, to admit how he really felt. To admit he’d been battling the same demons Eggsy had been.

It was his turn to speak now and he knew that the longer he stalled, the harder it would be to get it all out. His lips parted and as if sensing the movement, he saw Eggsy turn slightly to look at him. And then…

…the car phone rang, startling them both. And it rang once, twice. Harry leaned forward and answered it.  “What?” That came off harsher than he’d intended and even he had flinched at the tone of his voice. Swallowing hard, he forced himself to sound more polite. “What is it Merlin?”

Through the silence, Eggsy's heart sank lower and lower, from his throat down through his shoes. He was so fucking stupid. He should have kept his fucking mouth shut. He didn't blame Harry for his silence, it must have been hard to come up with a gentle way of saying no. As the phone rang, Eggsy's eyes started to sting, and he put the car back into drive, starting to speed away again. Luckily, their destination was in sight.

"Arthur. Galahad. I've received notice your rented car had stopped, is everything alright?"

“Yes, everything is fine,” he said, rather unconvincingly. “We’re about to arrive at the resort. We’ll let you know of any developments. Arthur and Galahad out.” And he cut off the connection just as the resort came into view.

This was a colossal fuck up on Harry’s part. He should have said something. Keeping silent was the worst possible thing to do and he’d done it. To Eggsy of all people. And he had no idea how to fix it. So he did the only thing he was apparently good at. He kept quiet.

Eggsy bit his lip as they pulled up and took a deep breath. After that little confession, his acting would be very difficult, but he could do it. He was professional.

The valet approached the car and Eggsy plastered on a big smile, hopping out and popping the trunk for the hotel employees to get their bags. "Come on, love," he smiled at Harry, depositing the keys in the valet's hand. "I'm tired of cars and planes, let's get inside where the fun is~" he teased, smiling coyly, his voice imitating the same accent as Harry's nearly flawlessly.

It took Harry a fraction of a second to become Harry Pendleton. His face cleared and opened up, the set of his shoulders lost their rigidity and when his eyes fell on Eggsy, the biggest loving, smile bloomed on his face. It all felt wrong. All the genuine warmth had gone out of Eggsy’s eyes and expression despite the big-ass smile he was flashing around.

“Hm, I have been wanting to get you out of those clothes for a while now,” he said and shot the young man a teasing grin as he laced their fingers together. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Harry hoped they would be able to pull this off.

"Harry!" Eggsy said with a laugh, squeezing his hand and using it to pull him closer, grinning and turning his face into his shoulder as they walked.

To his credit, he was doing well, and to anyone who didn't know him, it looked genuine. But his eyes were distant, a wall put up behind them. He was guarded.

Signing in and getting their room key took a little under five minutes. Harry declined a tour around the resort by making it quite clear they had no intentions of leaving their room for the next couple of days. He pulled it off excellently if the blush on Mirna’s face – the woman at the front desk – was any indication.

By the time they got to their room their bags were already there. They walked in at the same time, hands around each other and looking quite…in love.

Eggsy was smiling and blushing and playing the part of a very in-love partner extraordinarily well. But as soon as they entered their room and closed the door, he dropped his hands and his smile, looking suddenly very tired, as though he hadn't slept in days. He took his glasses off and set them on the table, starting to loosen his tie and take off his suit coat, refusing to look at Harry. "'F we ain't got nothin t'do tonight, think I'm gonna shower an jus' sleep, yeah."

“I think we should address what happened in the car,” Harry cleared his throat and took off his glasses. It wasn’t like him to run away from things that scared him and he sure as hell wasn’t going to start now. He walked until he was standing right behind Eggsy but he didn’t touch him. He didn’t think he had the right anymore. “You misunderstood my silence in the car for rejection,” he swallowed hard, his throat suddenly tight. “It wasn’t. I was…well, shit Eggsy. I was shocked.” He admitted with a self-deprecating chuckle. “Out of all the things I expected you to say, that wasn’t it.”

"It's fine, Harry," he sighed, shaking his head and looking at the floor. "Really. Jus' forget about it, yeah?" He looked back to him over his shoulder, giving him a weak smile though not looking at him much. "Was my fault."

_'How can I when you're not hearing what I'm trying to tell you'_ Harry thought, feeling so bloody out of his depth he wanted to scream. This was why he never did this, he had no experience with relationships. He wasn't good with words unless he was trying to win over a mark. But when genuine feelings were involved? He stumbled over his words, he got nervous. He fucked up.

"You didn't do anything wrong," he finally snapped in his frustration. He took in a deep breath and walked around so he was now facing Eggsy. Not letting the other run and hide from him any longer. "Remember a month ago when you asked me if there was anything I wasn't good that? Well, it's this. Right here. I'm shit at relationships. I'm shit at talking about this. So I need you to open those pretty eyes of yours and look at me. Really look at me. Read me like you would a mark."

Eggsy was fighting him, not wanting to look at him, desperately afraid of what he might find. He swallowed, steeling himself, as he lifted his gaze to look Harry in the eye, biting his lip in worry as he studied him, saying nothing.

Harry took in a deep, shaky breath and let it out slowly. His heart was beating so fast that you could see his pulse at the side of his neck if only you looked. The walls, the acting, the restraint all fell away as Eggsy raised his eyes to meet his. The set of his shoulders relaxed and his face opened up, hiding nothing.

“That night, in my bedroom you said I was...what did you call it? Nonchalant?” Harry gave a weak laugh and shook his head. “I was barely restraining myself, actually. I wanted nothing more than to keep you in my bed until I kissed every inch of you had you screaming my name.” Christ, talk about being blunt, Harry.

He could feel the tips of his ears turning pink and prayed to God the room wasn’t bright enough to make that visible. “Nothing during that night was an act for me either, Eggsy. Please believe me. I constantly have to stop myself from touching you whenever I’m around you. And I’ve been told I talk about you constantly when you’re not around. Although that was a complaint from Merlin so I don’t know how reliable the source is.” He offered a weak smile though it soon transformed into a frown. “It’s a bit embarrassing how crazy I am about you, to be honest. But I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

"....Harry..." Eggsy looked at him, his eyes wide and searching, looking in the soft brown eyes for any hint of dishonesty. He found nothing. The beginnings of hope began to bloom in his chest, and his hands lifted to hold his arms beneath the shoulders as he stared up at him. In that moment, his breath caught, his heart racing in his ears. The impulse was too strong, and with his words fresh in his mind, he couldn't deny it any longer. His grip tightened and he used it to pull Harry forward, their lips crashing together in a desperate kiss, Eggsy searching and hoping and putting all his built up feelings into it. All the longing, the hurt, the hope, everything.

Harry responded in kind, giving back as good as he got and holding nothing back. (What had he gained from holding himself back from people he cared about anyway? Nothing.) His hands grasped at Eggsy’s waist, pulling him forward until they were flush against each other, every inch of their bodies touching.

When it was becoming rather difficult to breathe, Harry pulled back and rested his forehead against Eggsy’s as he worked on regaining his breath. “Guess I wasn’t so bad at talking about this after all, hm?”

"Well. You did alright," he teased, his hands sliding up to wrap around Harry's neck, his eyes closed as their foreheads rested together. He bit his lip through his grin, lightly shaking his head. "...you sure I ain't dreamin, bruv? ..Har?"

"Hm, well there is one way we can find out for sure." He said, doing his best to sound innocent. He lowered one hand to Eggsy's perfectly round ass and pinched it. Hard.

"-!" Eggsy jumped with a laugh, smacking Harry's shoulder rather playfully. "Fuckin dickhead," he lightly laughed, shaking his head. Of course.

Harry tsked, or would have if it weren't for the stupid grin that he couldn't quite get rid off. "Language, Eggsy" he chided, "or I won't kiss it better later."

"Yeah?" Eggsy couldn't help his grin either; he was just too happy, too stunned, too filled with elation to stifle anything. His hands found Harry's face, cupping it gently, thumbs brushing over his cheekbones and suddenly very thankful they removed their glasses and relieved Merlin wasn't watching. "Ya gonna make me?" He leaned up, his face inches from Harry's. Now that he wasn't held back, it was too tempting to kiss more from his lips, over and over until he absolutely drowned in him.

Harry raised an eyebrow, the corners of his eyes crinkling in amusement. "If there's one thing I learned about you is that no one can make you do anything you don't want to do." With each word uttered, he was slowly leaning in, narrowing the space between their lips. "So I'll just have to punish you every time you misbehave." This was whispered against Eggsy's lips, their lips brushing together with every breath and yet Harry held back, refusing to seal their lips in a kiss. Teasing him.

No more teasing. If Harry was accepting him, accepting all of him, he was taking. He groaned in annoyance, his hands falling to Harry's broad shoulders again to grip tightly, trying to pull him in again. "Then punish me," he said, nipping the bottom lip so tantalizingly close to his own.

"As you wish," Harry all but growled and captured those wet, pink lips in a hot and merciless kiss. He lifted his hand up and cupped the back of Eggsy’s head, holding him in place as he deepened the kiss, his tongue devouring every inch of that tantalizing mouth. Despite the passion that was behind the kiss, Harry kept it slow and in control, not letting it spiral out of control. Now that he could have this, have Eggsy, he wasn’t going to rush anything. He was going to take his bloody time and enjoy himself.

“May I undress you?” Harry asked between deep breaths when they pulled back for air. Though he didn’t stay away for long, oh no. Instead, he started trailing kisses across Eggsy’s jaw and down the side of that lovely neck of his. His teeth grazed against the exact spot he planned on marking later if Eggsy allowed him.

He was breathless, utterly breathless. Harry was every bit as intoxicating as Eggsy had imagined him, more so than the clumsy bedroom kiss had whispered of promise. His head tilted for Harry, his lips parted as he breathed, his eyes closed. The question took a moment to register in his sluggish brain, but as soon as it did he nodded, unsure if his 'yes' actually made it past his lips.

"Are you all right?" he asked and pulled back so he could look at Eggsy's face. His eyes were still closed, his lips looked raw from Harry's kiss and his cheeks were, as usual, flushed. He looked delicious, edible. Harry licked his lips and took off Eggsy's tie, letting it fall to the floor. "You look a bit...overwhelmed." Harry added, sounding rather smug and pleased with himself. He started unbuttoning the buttons on Eggsy's shirt, taking his sweet time.

"Shut up," he said, trying to make his voice solid, though a grin was clearly in it. His head tilted back properly, eyes opening as he looked at him, hands eagerly running over his shoulders and chest through the thick fabric of the suit. "It _is_ overwhelming. I mean, fuck, Harry."

"I know. Bit surreal, isn't it?" Harry stopped what he was doing and took Eggsy's hands in his then brought them up to his lips and lovingly kissed each knuckle. "Perhaps we shouldn't jump into bed quite yet even though this has got to be the longest foreplay known to man."

Eggsy just laughed, smiling warmly at him and shook his head rather fondly. "True enough," he hummed, breaking away from him and backing away toward the bed. "Maybe you're right. Take off your jacket and c'mere, yeah?" He said as he kicked his shoes away, and hopped up onto the single bed.

Harry didn't need to be asked twice. He toed off his shoes, loosened up his tie and got it off then took off his suit jacket and hung it up on a hanger so it wouldn't crease. And since he was already there, he did the same with Eggsy's suit jacket, ignoring the snickering from the bed. "You should know better than to mistreat your suits," he said as he walked towards the bed. He crawled in and laid down on his side, facing Eggsy.

"Oh sure, sure," he sniggered still, shaking his head. "You posh blokes and your suits." After undoing the rest of the buttons on his shirt, he shimmied himself over on the sinfully soft bed, lying next to Harry and wrapping an arm around him.

Harry licked his lips, his eyes glued on Eggsy's newly exposed chest. "And how is this supposed to make me _not_ want to make love to you right now?" His hand sneaked in between them and he slipped it underneath Eggsy's open shirt, running his fingers lightly along his bare skin.

"You started it, I finished it. If you can't control yourself, 's your problem, Innit?" He grinned, his eyes on his face.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Should I always expect such cheek from you in bed, darling?"

"You expect it out, don't'ya?" Grin never falling, he tilted his head enough to momentarily steal his bottom lip between his teeth.

"Wouldn't have it any other way," he replied with a small smile once he'd regained full use of his lower lip. "It is, surprisingly, what I miss most when you're cross with me. That and your smile. Fell in love with it the first time I saw it." He leaned in and kissed the corner of his mouth.

Eggsy's lips pressed together in the sort of smile that only happens when one is trying not to. "Not sure what to say to that," he said, nuzzling his jaw with his nose. "Y'hid it well. From me, at least."

"When someone who is my age gets an inappropriate crush on his protégé who is half his age, the only logical thing to do is to hide it." A frown settled in between his eyebrows as he spoke. "At first I thought it'd be all right. Nothing more than a crush. I mean, you _have_ seen yourself in a suit right? You look like a model who'd just stepped out of a magazine. Half the agency drools after you whenever you're in a suit." Harry's tone implied that it was all Eggsy's fault and he should be sorry. "And then we started getting closer and I...I started second guessing my every move. Was this touch too obvious? Am I standing to close to him? And stuff like that. You didn't notice it because whenever Merlin would listen to me, I'd dump all my worries on him." He chuckled. "Poor lad, I think he got really fed up at one point and he just started to tune me out."

"I can see that, sounds like him," Eggsy smiled, a hand lifting to touch Harry's hair gently, brushing through perfectly styled strands. "But I felt I was being fairly obvious, Har.  Was you waitin for me t'make an embarrassing proclamation like I did in the car?" He pressed a small kiss to his chin.

"I wasn't expecting anything from you because I couldn't fathom that you would ever think of me in that way. Think about it. Why would you want to tie yourself to someone who in 30 years might not even be able to get out of bed without your help? Doesn't make much sense, does it?" Harry couldn't bring himself to look at Eggsy as he asked that. This all seemed too good to be true and if Harry knew one thing about people like him, they rarely got a happy ever after.

"Better question," his hand fell to cup his face again, grateful he didn't have to hide the pure admiration and fondness in his eyes. "Why would I stay away from the most incredible man I've ever met? Charming, witty, clever, intelligent, confident, self-assured, astute, an a host of other flatterin adjectives I can't think of right now." His lips twitched. "Not even countin how fuckin hot you are, or how fuckin sexy it is t'see you kick arse, or that look in y're eye that just..." He trailed off, grinning and biting his lip before he continued. "I've fancied you since that day y'picked me up. 'F I get anywhere near 30 years with someone as heartstoppin as you, I'll be one fuckin lucky man."

Harry's face transformed completely at Eggsy's words. So much that by the end he was...well, there's no other word for it; Harry was beaming at him. And if his eyes looked a little watery well, that was no one's business but their own.

Leaning forward, Harry sealed their lips in a kiss. It started off lightly, Harry kept it soft and loving but it quickly gained intensity and depth as he poured all the love he felt for Eggsy into it.

Sometime during the kiss, Harry pushed Eggsy flat on his back and settled himself fully on top of him. He placed his hands on either side of Eggsy's head to keep himself upright so he wouldn't crush the man.

Eggsy had kissed him back readily, first lightly and affectionately, but matching Harry's lead on intensity, allowing himself to become lost in the kiss. It all just felt so good. Finally, he could say what he felt and not have to worry about Harry rejecting him, flinching from him, distancing himself from him. Finally, he could touch him how he wanted, his lips speaking for him what his words never could. His hands found their way to Harry's waist, holding him, happy to have him on top of himself; he smiled into the kiss.

“Something funny?” He asked as he pulled back. Eggsy’s big smile was making it a bit impossible to continue but Harry didn’t mind. “I have not seen you smile this much since that incident with JB and Merlin’s shoes. For which I have to congratulate you;  I wish I’d have thought of that first.”

Eggsy just snickered and lightly pushed him. "Oi, don't make funna me." Though he was still grinning, and rather happily. He couldn't help it.

"You have to admit it was a bit funny," he smirked and pulled back a bit.  This gave him a perfect view of Eggsy's muscled chest and damn. Harry wanted to touch, bite, lick and kiss every inch he could get his mouth on. But they'd wait. Like they'd said they would, like Harry himself suggested. He could kick himself for that right now. Honestly.

He cleared his throat and moved away from between Eggsy's legs, hoping his expression didn't reveal too much of what he was thinking of right now. He sat at the edge of the bed but still within touching distance of Eggsy. "Have you had anything to eat yet? The restaurant should open for lunch in an hour or so. You could take that shower you were talking about."

Chuckling, Eggsy propped himself up properly again, head tilted and smirking as he looked at him. Politely, he chose not to mention it. "You know I was sayin that t'avoid you, yeah? I showered before I met ya back at HQ." He shook his head. "But food, 'm always in for tha'."

"Well we've got one hour to kill then," he forced his gaze away and as if he couldn't trust himself any longer, he stood up, moving away from the bed. "We should go take a look around the grounds. See where all their cameras and guards are."

He bit his lips to keep from laughing and stood as well, carefully rebuttoning his shirt. "Yeah, good." He nodded, glancing around for where his tie had gone. "Kinda wanted t'get a look around anyway. One swank place, this."

"You won't need your tie," he said, bending down to pick up both their ties. "This is supposed to be a relaxing place, a vacation for Harry and Gareth if you will." He walked to the closet holding their suit jackets and put each tie with their corresponding suit. "Actually it would be better if you took off that suit completely." A glazed look passed over his features as if he were imagining Eggsy doing just that. He shook his head to clear it and walked to his own suitcase to do the same. The sooner they got out of this room, the better.

With a barely contained smirk, Eggsy paused, fingers hovering over the buttons and ready to undo them again. "What would you have me wear then, eh?"

Harry paused and turned to look at him. The little brat wasn't even trying to hide his mirth. So that's how they were going to play it then? "If it were up to me," he said, walking towards him. "I'd have you wearing nothing but a smile. I'd parade you around for everyone to see what a lucky bastard I am to have you here with me."

As usual, red touched his cheeks, but for once, he was neither surprised nor embarrassed. He simply gave a coy smirk and a wink and started to undo his buttons again. It was becoming a game of chicken, and he'd be damned if he was going to lose.

Harry continued to look at him, his eyes following the movement of his fingers as they unbuttoned one button after another. He was pleasantly surprised by how cool Eggsy was playing this. It had somehow turned into a game, a dare of sorts and Harry had no intention of losing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember how I said it was going to be a slow burn? We couldn't help ourselves.
> 
> Find us on tumblr:  
> Harry - johnlocknetwork  
> Eggsy - thedarkbunnyrises


	3. Exploring the Resort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the love confession out of the way, Harry and Eggsy are free to flirt however they choose. Much more comfortable, they decide to explore the resort a little bit more, remembering that they are in fact here for an actual mission.

Harry had no recollection of falling asleep but he must have because the next time he opened his eyes he was met with darkness. He blinked the sleep from his eyes and turned to look at the form sleeping peacefully next to him. The light from outside illuminated the room just enough to make Eggsy's face visible. His face was smooth, devoid of worry lines. Harry's eyes shot down to that perfect mouth next which was now hanging open, making Eggsy look even younger and more innocent. And he also looked dead to the world. Nothing short of a bomb would wake him, Harry thought in mild amusement.

Leaning forward, he pressed a soft kiss to Eggsy's forehead then carefully slid out of the covers. He was quite hungry and had a feeling Eggsy would be famished when he woke up as well. But first things first, he was in dire need of a shower.

Indeed dead asleep, at the feeling of the other body in the bed moving, jostling about, his eyebrows pulled together and he made a rather unintelligible and quiet grumble in his sleep, rolling over. Nope, not time to wake up.

Once showered and dressed - if that's what one would call just putting on a robe - Harry sat down on the edge of the bed, closest to Eggsy. "Eggsy, wake up." He said and dropped a kiss to his naked shoulder.

He groaned, curling up into a ball and grumbling. “Nn… f’ck off…”

"Is this how you treat all your lovers after you've had your way with them?" He huffed out a laugh.

“….” Eggsy huffed and wiggled to give him a look. “… yep. ‘vry time.”

"Hm," he tilted his head to the side and studied him. "Let's see if we can't improve your mood then." He stood up only to climb back into bed a second later and pull Eggsy effortlessly against his chest, his arms wrapped tightly around him.

“Mm—“ Eggsy smiled. He instantly relaxed against him, yawning and nuzzling his head under his chin. “Much be’er. I could wake up t’this.”

Harry hummed, content and simply stared at the ceiling as his fingers absently ran through Eggsy's short hair and massaged his scalp.

He was smiling rather absently with his eyes closed, simply enjoying the feeling and the wake-up cuddling; he hadn’t woken up like this in months. It was much nicer than he even remembered. “Y’re gonna spoil me.”

"That doesn't sound like me," he said, smile evident in the tone of his voice.  "How am I going to do that?"

“’f we’re gonna be here f’the next few days sharin a bed ‘n I get t’wake up like this? ‘ll be spoilt rotten by the time I get back home,” he grinned into his neck.

Harry smiled in the darkness. "That is true. And we can't have you sleeping poorly, can we? Might affect your performance on a mission and get yourself hurt." He kissed the top of his head. "Any ideas on how we might avoid that from happening?"

“Got a few,” he nuzzled himself against him again and rather begrudgingly sat up, rubbing his face with his hands. “What time‘s it, anyway?”

"Around 7 in the evening, I think," Harry said, not missing a beat at the abrupt change in subject. "We still have time to make it to dinner, if you're interested."

“Very,” he said immediately, nodding. “’m fuckin starvin.”

"Good," he said and turned the light on the bedside table then got out of bed. "I have to make a few calls until you get ready." He was already reaching for his phone.  "Don't forget to put on something casual. I have some extra shirts you could wear if you hadn't packed any."

“Chav or suit. Mostly what I got at this point,” he chuckled as he stood, stretching and groaning as he did so, turning to go take a shower of his own. He could probably use one…

The phone in his hand forgotten, Harry could only stand there and watch as Eggsy - with no hint of self-consciousness - walked around butt naked. The sight made his mouth dry and heart speed up like nothing else and he forced his gaze away.

With a clear of his throat, Harry turned and walked to the veranda, away from temptation.

Now that he was certain that Harry liked him, he’d be damned if he wasn’t going to take advantage of his ability to distract him whenever possible. Grinning as he stepped into the bathroom, he looked back in time to see Harry duck out. Showering rather quickly though with a smile on his face, he re-emerged just a few minutes later, towel tied (rather lower than was necessary) around his waist, checking to see if he was back yet; he actually did need to borrow a shirt.

Harry returned not too long after that, looking rather pleased and a bit more relaxed. "Bors and Lancelot managed to extract some useful intel from the Russians while remaining incognito." He shared the good news with Eggsy as he shut and locked the sliding door leading outside.

When he got a proper look at the younger man, his eyes darkened and his expression changed into one of pure lust. Even from across the room it was impossible to miss it. But then, as soon as it appeared, it disappeared behind Harry's usual mask of neutrality.

“Oh, Rox actually get t’go on that?” He responded easily, noticing the look but pretending he hadn’t, choosing to play innocently ignorant. “Aces, knew they would.” He smiled as he started going through his luggage to pull out something to change into.

"Yes, she'd been the only agent available at such short notice," Smiling to himself, Harry walked to his own suitcase and in a matter of seconds pulled out a burgundy colored shirt. He handed it over. "Try this. It should go well with your eyes."

“Yeah?” He took it with eyebrows raised in interest, setting it to the side as he let his towel drop to the floor so he could put on a fresh pair of briefs. “Thanks. Shoulda told me the range of dress code. Though, I don’t really got anythin like this at home.”

"You're at a resort in the middle of nowhere, Eggsy." Harry chuckled and distinctly chose not to even peek in Eggsy's direction. "Suits are hardly appropriate if we want to blend in."

Turned away from him, Harry took off his robe and bent over in search of some clean undergarments.

“You ‘fink I got anythin to compare this to, bruv?” He actually laughed, tugging on his undergarments and simple pants as he spoke. “I wasn’t kiddin, I got Kingsman issue suits and my street clothes and that’s fuckin’ it. Maybe y’should show me what kinds’a shit t’get for stuff like this when we get back, yeah?”

Undergarments and trousers on, Harry turned back around with a simple white shirt in his hand. He put in on as well but kept it unbuttoned as he slid up behind Eggsy and wrapped his arms around his waist. "Maybe I should buy you a whole new wardrobe when we get back." He offered and kissed the back of his neck.

His eyes closed as he felt the arms slide around him, a smile spreading without his permission. In the back of his mind, he almost wished that someone was there to take a picture of this, he’d like to save it. “Mm. It’d be nice to be prepared proper. An as much as I‘m sure y’like seein me in your clothes…”

"Oh no, you'll still be expected to wear my clothes whenever possible," he grinned and lightly bit the back of his neck. He couldn't help himself. "Having your own set of clothes will just be a precaution, if you will."

“Oh, well, in that case.” He sniggered, a hand taking one of Harry’s and lifting it to his lips, brushing affectionate kisses on his wrist.

Harry's pulse raced beneath Eggsy's lips and he closed his eyes, his forehead falling forward and resting against his shoulder. "Je t'aime," he whispered softly and swallowed hard. He was pretty certain Eggsy had no idea what it meant. Thankfully. He wasn't quite ready to own up to it just yet.

Eggsy just smiled, nuzzling his nose against the elevated pulse. “Forgot you spoke other stuff. French, yeah?” He clearly didn’t. But he knew melodic language when he heard it, and coming from Harry, it was beautiful, whatever it was.

"Yes," He hummed and for a moment his one hand grip on Eggsy tightened before returning to normal once again. "One of the most romantic languages in the world. I could teach you to swear in French. Because everything sounds more sophisticated in French."

Laughing, Eggsy broke away from him, turning around and pressing a small, swift kiss to his lips before grabbing the shirt Harry had given him. “’m always up for learnin swears, can’t turn down an offer like that. ‘m I gonna have t’learn it, or anything else, now I think about it?” He tugged on the shirt and slowly started to do the buttons up, trying to keep his attention on Harry (damn that shirt hanging off him flattered him well…).

Instantly missing the heat of having Eggsy pressed against him, Harry started to button up his shirt, his fingers working deftly and quickly. "It's not a requirement anymore but it's better if you do. We have a good instructor back at HQ or...I could teach you."

“Think you know which I’d prefer,” he grinned. Leaving the top two buttons of his shirt open, he brushed the front down, looking at him and giving him his best charming smile. “How do I look, eh? Like a millionaire’s boy toy?” he teased.

Harry made a show of looking Eggsy up and down, studying him. "I don't know," he said and motioned him forward. "Come here. There's something missing."

“Mm?” He walked over, eyebrows raised, expectant.

"Oh, just this," he said with a mischievous smirk and before he could react, Harry pulled him in and captured his lips in a kiss. It was rough and passionate and right before he pulled back completely, he took Eggsy's bottom lip between his teeth and bit down hard, but not hard enough to draw blood. He knew where the line was.

"Much better," he said as he drew back, just slightly out of breath.

Eggsy had gasped as Harry unleashed the sudden and rather intense kiss on him, surprised of course, but always willing to be kissed like that. As his teeth sunk down on his lip, he fought the grin, knowing full well what he was doing.

As they parted, he grinned and absently lifted two fingers to delicately touch his lip, rather pleased. “I agree.”

Harry cleared his throat, the faintest touch of pink covering his cheeks. “We should go,” he said, forcing his gaze away from him and moving about the room to grab his phone, wallet and their key room. Finally, he also slid on his glasses then started to walk towards the door where Eggsy was already waiting for him.

Reluctantly, Eggsy was also wearing his glasses. He was standing there waiting with a smile, holding the door open and mentally preparing himself to switch from lovey-dovey ‘I’m so happy’ mode to lovey-dovey ‘I’m on a mission’ mode. It was proving difficult. Hopefully that would change once they left the room.

It didn't take them long to find the restaurant and Harry was glad to see it wasn't overly crowded as most couples chose to sit outside in the fresh, open air. As they entered the restaurant to be led to their table, he felt pairs of eyes on them, assessing them. None looked for too long, so Harry didn't pay them any extra attention and focused on locating the cameras around them as they walked.

In his search, he noticed a much older man stare openly and shamelessly at Eggsy. The look on his face made Harry's stomach turn and the hand he currently had wrapped around Eggsy's waist tightened possessively.

When they sat down, he chose the seat that would leave him open to look at that man while Eggsy, hopefully oblivious to Harry's antics, sat down with his back to him. Harry smiled to himself. Perfect.

True enough, Eggsy hadn’t noticed anything amiss. He was too busy with his eyes everywhere else, partially for the purposes of his job, partially because this really was ‘one swank place,’ so much more upscale than a lot of things he was used to. He was actually almost nervous at the prospect of having to blend in and watch his voice every time he spoke when they weren’t in the room. He could do it, he knew, but it was still one of his first actual outings. There was always a slight need to impress. He wiggled a bit in his seat before looking up at Harry with a warm smile.

"Relax," he said with a reassuring smile, sensing Eggsy's nervous energy. "You could take all of these posh wankers and kick their ass without breaking a sweat," Harry reached across the table and placed his hand over Eggsy's, giving it a light squeeze before pulling it back and picking up his menu. "So just think about that or you could just do what I did when I started out; imagine them naked. The oldest trick in the book really and it works wonders. Now, what would you like to drink?"

Eggsy laughed as their hands touched, sorry to see him take it back away. He picked up his own, grinning to himself. “Imagine them naked, eh? I’d imagine that’d sometimes be a bit distractin.”

"Well, you'd accessorize them, of course. A puffy bunny tail here, long elephant ears there," he trailed off and shrugged at the look sent his way. "What? I was young and had a vivid imagination." He added somewhat defensively.

“I’ll wager y’still have a vivid imagination,” he sniggered, flipping through the menu with both hunger yet simultaneously disinterest. There were a lot of names here that really meant nothing to him.

"I do, but if I admit - at my age - that I imagine people around me naked, I run the risk of being called a perverted old man and thrown out of establishments. Not quite as fun as when you're 20." Noticing Eggsy's overwhelmed expression as he scanned the menu, Harry added, "Have you ever tried a pork filet mignon? It's quite delicious if done right."

Slowly, he raised his eyes to Harry’s, a completely blank expression on his face. It took a second to answer, as he had to swallow the snarky responses that came to mind. “… Nah. Haven’t.  Ai—Isn’t filet mignon really small?”

Harry held up his hand then curled in into a fist. "It's about the size of your fist and it comes with roast potatoes and vegetables." He really had to commend Eggsy's self-control. He could practically see the sarcastic comments on the tip of his tongue. "To be fair, all portions here will be relatively smaller than what you're used to. But you don't have to get that; it was merely a suggestion."

“No- no that sounds good,” he took the out, folding the menu back up. If nothing else, he knew he liked roast potatoes and could stomach vegetables just fine. And this was far preferable to trying to decipher a menu that might as well have been written in French.

Harry signaled the waiter over and placed their orders. He'd got the same thing as Eggsy. It had been quite some time since he'd had a fillet mignon. Hopefully the chef could deliver. Before dismissing the waiter, Harry asked, "What would you like to drink? They have quite a variety of beers here." He handed a different, much slimmer menu to Eggsy so he could take a look.

Beer, he understood.

Taking the menu and glancing at it quickly, he found one of his favourite pale ales happened to be listed and eagerly chose that. At least he’d have something comforting. He rested his hand on the table face up, fingers wiggling insistently.

Once the waiter was walking away from their table to place their order, Harry's eyes fell down to Eggsy's fingers. He raised an eyebrow in a silent question.

He just grinned and kept wiggling them, his hand nudging closer little by little.

"Very subtle," Chuckling lightly, Harry grasped his hand and brought it up to his lips, kissing the center of his palm before letting both their hands fall back to the table, fingers intertwined.

“Subtle is what I’m good at. Thought you’d know by now,” he continued to grin, wiggling his hand in his, pleased.

"You haven't a subtle bone in your body, darling," he huffed, giving Eggsy's hand a squeeze just as the waiter returned with their drinks.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the man who'd been watching Eggsy when they entered, pay, get up and leave and Harry visibly relaxed. There was something very off about that man. He had the look of a hunter, a predator.

This time he caught the slight flit of the eyes, the relaxing of his muscles. “What’s wrong,” he asked, his grin dropping and eyebrows pulling together. He let go of his hand in favour of the drink in front of him, taking a grateful sip as he waited.

"What do you mean?" Harry turned his full attention back on Eggsy. The hand that had been holding his was now playing with his wine glass absently.

“May not be subtle m’self, but I can see.” His lips twitched, keeping the rim of the glass pressed against his lips after he spoke.

"Remember that comment I made about people looking at you 'wrong'? Well, you needn't be naked for that to happen." He took a sip of his Merlot, already devising a plan to find out who that man was and what he was really doing here.

He raised an eyebrow, lowering the glass. He said nothing more on it, unsure what to make of that just now, so he just studied Harry’s face as he thought.

Harry's jaw clenched as he continued to hold Eggsy's gaze, unable to read the other's expression.

He hadn't said those words out of jealousy. At least he didn't think he did. He'd have found that man's staring off putting no matter their...relationship status. With a sigh, he lifted up the wine glass to his lips and took another sip.

After a few moments of thought, his grin returned, dismissing it for now. He could bring it up later, he wasn’t about to let it go, but here wasn’t the place, he could recognize that much. Although, he wasn’t sure what to say now. So he just lifted his glass to take a drink, letting his body language show his deliberate change in demeanor.

They'd made small talk after that, though it was mostly for appearances. While most of Harry's attention was on Eggsy and what he was saying, he was also tracking the movements of the workers and timing them, trying to work out a pattern. As expected, the kitchen and the bar were buzzing with activity. The kitchen was also the most likely to lead them to an office or private rooms so it became quite clear they'd have to break in sometime in the middle of the night.

His line of thought was cut off abruptly when the waiter appeared at their side with their food. It smelled and looked divine, making Harry's mouth water instantly. He thanked the young man and asked for another glass of wine before he turned to Eggsy and smiled. "Bon Appetit."

Eggsy was doing his best to do the same. This was his first mission that was less ‘gunshot gunshot dodge save the princess’ and more of intel, reading people, deciphering what was important and what wasn’t. He was doing his best to see people out of the corner of his eye, to commit faces to memory, to look for anything out of place, all while holding a conversation about nothing. He was doing alright, all things considered. But he missed any indication of needing to come back here.

Grinning, Eggsy thanked the water as well and started to poke at the food curiously, cutting into it and taking a careful bite. He was surprised – it really was amazing. He sank in his seat a little bit in happiness. “Mmm~”

"Better than you were expecting, I take it?" he said, mouth twisting up in a smile. He'd steeled himself for disaster. It wouldn't have been the first time Harry gave Eggsy something more...refined to eat only to see the young man barely keep it down. Oysters and Eggsy? Didn't mix. Even he couldn't quite look at what once used to be one of his favorite foods without feeling a little queasy.

“Mhmm,” he nodded, spearing some of the roasted potatoes and eating them just as happily. “Like pork,” he added, taking a sip of his beer again. “’n this’s pre’y nice. Don’t even care tha’ I’ll be hungry again in two hours.” Sniggering, he grinned at Harry, nudging his leg under the table as he shot a glance casually around the room.

"I'm sure we can find something for you to feast on when that happens," he said as innocently as possible and took a bite of his pork. It was only sheer self-control that kept him from making any embarrassing sounds at the taste. His leg slipped in between Eggsy's and he rested his calf against his quite comfortably. "You've had time to look around. Tell me what you've learned." The waiter brought him his second glass of wine and he took a sip.

“That a lot’a these guys ‘re stuck up?” He cleared his throat once, remembering his accent. “That one over there’s oblivious to the fact his date has been, excuse me, ‘eye-bangin’ the waiter, that one’s had four whiskeys since we sat down and is probably drunk off his arse, and I’m pretty sure the gentleman to my left who’s currently ‘indisposed’ has a pretty loose wallet in his pocket, I could probably nick it ‘f you want,” he teased lightly, nibbling his food some more as he looked up to him with expectant eyes. “What’d I miss I guess is the better question, yeah?”

Harry followed Eggsy's words with his eyes, taking in the subjects. He'd already made his own mental profiles of them and Eggsy wasn't that far off.  "Not much," he assured him and subtly tilted his head to the right, in the direction of their first subject. "Except that man over there? He likes to watch." At the blank expression he got to that, he clarified. "He likes to watch his 'date' have sex with someone else. When he sat down? They were talking between themselves at which point his date became embarrassed and started to look around. Searching. That oblivious man, as you called him, asked him to choose someone from this room he'd like to take to bed. Clearly, he chose someone closer to his age. Someone he was genuinely attracted to. Now, going by the 'eye'bangin' as you called it, and the obliviousness of the older gentleman, I think it's safe to assume he also tasked his date to win the waiter over and proposition him."

"The man on your left," he started. He was clearly enjoying himself. Having Eggsy's undivided attention on him like this always made Harry want to show off his skills and this night was no different. "Had you looked closer you'd have noticed he's actually part of the security personnel. Going by his outfit and the fact that he's drinking on the job, I'd say he's the boss. That loose wallet? It's a trap. Or haven't you noticed the concealed weapon at his back? And going by looks alone, that man is a bulldog. You'd be a fool to cross him when you yourself are unarmed."

Rather amusedly, Eggsy was grinning, his head tilted as he listened to him. He was rather pleased at the amount he actually had gathered, and wasn’t terribly put out that he had missed rather specific details. He could train himself to see them. “Oh, ‘s that all?” He lightly nudged him under the table again.

Harry nudged right back, feeling uncharacteristically playful. "I'd have thought you'd pick up on the sex, at least." He absently licked his lips. "Since that's what you young people have on the mind all the time."

“Yes, just us young people,” He grinned again, resting his head in his hand as he leaned forward on the table. He nudged him yet again. “I’ve had a rather interesting day, I’m sure you can forgive a slight slip. Misplacement, maybe,” he hummed, smirking. The glasses on his face slipped a bit, and as he adjusted them he remembered they were most likely being monitored, so maybe he should tone himself down a bit. “… Is that all, though? I’ve just been looking at people. Thusfar.” He spoke a little slower than normal, taking care to enunciate the vowels and crisp the consonants.

Harry rose an eyebrow and shot Eggsy an 'Do you really think we should be talking about while sitting next to the head of security?' look. Who wasn't on his phone anymore but looking gloomily down at his drink. "Yes, when you really should have been eating instead. What happened to being so hungry you could eat an entire horse?"

He shrugged and went back to his food. “If I shovel it down, how can I enjoy the fancy taste?” ‘that I’ve never had before,’ he mentally added. “Or the fancy company,” he looked up and wiggled his eyebrows.

Harry held back a smile, just barely. Really, he was just too adorable sometimes. "We haven't been apart for more than 10 hours at a time for months now. How have you not tired of my 'fancy company'? Even Merlin can barely stand me for 48 hours before he needs a break at a high end spa."

“Happens when you’re smitten,” he said casually, turning his attention to the food he was trying to cut.

Harry hummed noncommittally and turned back to his food. It was the safe and proper thing to do. He had a feeling pulling Eggsy in his lap and just holding him while they ate - as he was itching to do - would be frowned upon.

Eggsy was relatively quiet from then out, slowly eating his food to savour it. Once he was mostly finished, he leaned back in his seat, drink at his lips, as his foot gently rubbed against his ankle, rather affectionately. It was nice that the goal of the mission matched rather well with his own agenda. After being given permission, he wanted to touch Harry nigh constantly, and thank goodness it wouldn’t be out of place for Gareth Appleby to be playing after-dinner footsie with his date.

"Do you realize you're doing that?" Harry asked, leaning back in his seat, feeling sated. It felt surprisingly relaxing and natural to be playing footsie with Eggsy under the table. He pushed his empty plate to the side and slid his hand across, palm facing up. He looked at Eggsy, expectant.

With a smirk, Eggsy reached forward and took the hand in his own, thumb lightly brushing across the soft palm. “Do you want me to stop?”

"No," he said with a shake of his head, his gaze flickering briefly up to Eggsy's face before it dropped back down to their intertwined hands. "I quite like it. Of course, my opinion on it may be biased. Just a bit."

“I would hope so.” He smiled at him, and glanced around. “Are you done?” Simple to say, easily translating as ‘are you finished eating’ and ‘are you done looking for whatever you want to find.’ But he wasn’t going to find anything else, and he was ready to get going. He wanted to explore a little bit more.

"Yes let's get the check, shall we?" He looked around until he'd found their waiter and motioned for him to bring over the check. Once that was done and he'd paid for their meal, Harry stood up. "Shall we go take a look around?" He asked, holding his hand out to Eggsy as they exited the restaurant.

“Please,” he smiled, taking his hand again easily without giving it a thought. Smiling to himself as they went, he led him away from the restaurant, turning and going the opposite direction they came from. “Wha’s ‘ere?” He asked, accent slipping again.

Harry thought to point out that the name of the room - the pool room - was right in front of their faces but in the end he didn't bother. He pushed the door open just enough for them to see the inside and was instantly hit with the smell of cigars. There was enough cigar smoke in that room to give it a fog like quality but even so it was  quite obvious what was going on inside.

In the center of the room, making good use of the pool table - just not in the way that you'd think - were two young men, partially undressed, snogging. The waiter and that young man, his brain helpfully supplied. Harry hadn't seen them leave but then again, he hadn't paid much attention after that. And they weren't alone, as expected. Sitting in the shadows watching the show was the older gentleman, watching them like a hawk. Thank God he wasn't touching himself yet. It took Harry a fraction of a second more to realize those three weren't alone. The older man wasn't the only one watching. There were others. And...shit. Including the man who kept staring at Eggsy at the beginning of their dinner. The man's eyes were no longer on the show but instead they were watching him. And from him they went to Eggsy. When the bastard had the audacity to 'invite' them in, Harry pulled back and let the door close. The grip of his hand on Eggsy's tightened almost to the point of hurting, but he was oblivious to the fact.

"The more I look, the more I believe this is not a resort but a sodding sex club for perverted old men." He bit out, moving away from the door with long strides, almost dragging Eggsy behind him.

Eggsy trotted along behind him, his eyebrows still raised from surprise, though he started laughing as they walked away. “’fink so, bruv,” he managed, shaking his head. “’s a bit unexpected, innit? We blend _right_ in,” he snorted as he followed along behind him, ignoring the slight smarting of his hand.

The farther they got from that room, the more relaxed Harry became; not that Eggsy seemed to notice Harry's abrupt change in mood. (Thank God.)

"Are you suggesting I'm a pervert?" He slowed down a bit and tugged on his hand, pulling Eggsy flush against him. "Tell me, would you ever do that? Be on display like that, if I asked you to?"

The redness flushed into his face right on cue, his breath stopping in his chest as he was pulled against him. He never would tire of that. He opened his mouth to respond, but said nothing, just looked at him questioningly, afraid to answer wrong. For Harry? He’d do just about anything.

"There is no right or wrong answer here," he added softly, reaching up and cupping the side of his face, his thumb running over Eggsy's full lower lip.

Blinking at him once, Eggsy smiled rather meekly at him, kissing the thumb before it pulled away. “I wasn’t suggestin anythin. But there’s little to nothin I wouldn’t do for you, Har.” He grinned, casually winding his arms around his waist.

Harry swallowed past the sudden lump in his throat and tried to still his fast-racing heart. "That's - " he cleared his throat and ran his hand down Eggsy's chest, seemingly suddenly nervous. "The feeling is mutual. And not just sexually speaking, you know." Taking advantage of their slight difference in height, he leaned in and kissed Eggsy's forehead lovingly.

"Let's continue our tour, shall we?”

Eggsy flashed him a grin, releasing his waist in favour of taking back his hand. “Lead the way, then.” He lightly squeezed his hand in his.

They passed a couple more rooms on the way. There was a rather spacious gym, a deserted library that Harry longed to go into but didn't, just peeked in, even though Eggsy offered.  At least there weren't any more 'sex shows'; Harry was greatly thankful for that.

And then the atmosphere changed. The air became damp and hot and the smell of chlorine hit their nostrils almost instantly. "Ah, I do remember Merlin saying something about an indoor pool." He said and pushed open the door, walking in.  They looked a little out of place with all their clothes on but the few people in the pool didn't pay them any attention. His eyes flickered over to where the pool cut off and became a Jacuzzi. "I have always wanted to go into one of those," he said, briefly pointing to the Jacuzzi while looking at Eggsy. "What do you say?"

Eggsy was grinning, looking from the hot bubbling water to Harry and wiggled his eyebrows. “Yeah, me too. Let’s do it, eh?” He turned to face him, sliding a hand beneath his arm to touch his waist. “Looks fun.”

“We’re changing first.”

\----

"This will take some getting used to," Harry said, shifting in his seat. Being in a Jacuzzi was a lot different than what he'd expected. "It feels like there's tongues licking me all over right now," he shifted again.

“Or bubbles bein’ blown at ya, eh?” Eggsy was grinning, his arms down and supporting himself on the seat as he let his lower body float. He was enjoying the warmth, the feeling of being in the water, the freedom of idle weightlessness. And of course, being in swim trunks with Harry. That was nice too.

"You look like you're enjoying yourself greatly," he said, his eyes running down the length of Eggsy's body. He tried to stop himself from staring but then it dawned on him. He could do that now. He could stare, touch, kiss, lick and bite whenever he wanted. Unsurprisingly, he wanted to do all of those things right now. "Should I start thinking about switching the bathtub at home with a Jacuzzi?"

“Yeah you absolutely should,” he lifted a foot out of the water and wiggled his toes, stretching himself out with a contented yawn. “Could get used t’this shit~”

"I don't know if I want to compete with hot, bubbly water." He chuckled and leaned back, starting to relax a bit himself. "Since I'm not sure I would end up victorious."

“’s true, y’already lost,” he grinned, shimmying himself over along the seat on his hands to get closer to him, stopping only when their shoulders touched and he could lean over and peck him on the cheek.

Harry let out a mock gasp and ducked out of range just as Eggsy's lips were about to touch his cheek. He shuffled away just a little bit. "After that hurtful comment, I don't think you deserve a kiss."

“Dunno what you’re on about, I was perfectly tactful.” He huffed, scooting himself closer still, grinning his most charming grin. “I think I do.”

Despite having enough space to move further away still, Harry didn't. He didn't really want to. He let Eggsy get those delicious lips close enough then he held them back, pressing his index finger against them. "Haven't you heard? The woman of the relationship is always right. Ergo, I'm right, you're wrong. No kiss."

“Y’re an idiot,” he snickered, kissing the finger instead. “Fine, no kiss,” he heaved a dramatic sigh, pushing himself away again with his arms.

"Je t'aime aussi," he replied easily, the corners of his mouth twisting up in a smug smile.

“Yeah, yeah, baguette croissant t’you too,” he rolled his eyes and wrinkled his nose at him, but was grinning all the same.

Harry laughed then, unable to help himself. It was the first laugh since....God, he couldn't even remember and he'd forgotten how good it felt to laugh. He shifted back, closer to Eggsy and only stopped when they were within touching distance. "Tu es adorable," he whispered and dropped a kiss to Eggsy's shoulder. "Can you guess what that means?"

Eggsy's heart skipped a beat and butterflies fluttered in his chest at the sound of the laugh, a large smile spreading on his face at the look on Harry's. Wow. It just occurred to him that was the first he'd seen him so open, the first laugh and true smile, and he knew right then he would try and coax it from him whenever possible. It was beautiful.

At his words though, he rolled his eyes, the smile betraying his happiness however. "Y'hate me?" He tried with raised eyebrows, nudging his shoulder playfully.

"I thought you said you didn't know any French," he deadpanned.

"I'm fulla surprises, remember?" He sniggered and grinned, leaning in again to try to kiss him.

"Hm." He had no intention of pulling back this time and instead he met Eggsy half way, lips locking in a loving kiss. His hand reached up to cup the side of his face and in turn pulling him closer.

He was feeling warm, in a way completely unrelated to the hot bubbling water they were submerged in. Happily, he kissed him, maneuvering himself to sit beside him and throw his legs sideways over Harry's, not parting from him until he needed air.

Feeling the sudden weight across his lap, Harry's hand settled on top of them, his palm running up and down, enjoying the feeling of muscles contracting underneath his fingertips.

When the need for air became too great and they had to part, Harry took to planting feather light kisses across his cheeks, his eyes, the tip of his nose; anywhere he could reach.

Eggsy was grinning, laughing quietly under his breath at the kisses, his legs lightly swinging back and forth. Imagine if Merlin could see them now. Heh. "Ain't you affectionate," he hummed, a simple observation.

"Simply making up for lost time," he said then dropped one last kiss on the tip of Eggsy's nose just to see that adorable wrinkling of his nose one more time. "That last kiss? It was the 32nd if I counted right."

"You been countin?" He laughed, contentedly settling in to his seat so one of the jets of bubbles hit the small of his back. "'S not enough, I think."

"Aren't you just a little greedy?" He teased, pinching the inside of his thigh.

"Can y'blame me, bruv?" He grinned leaning in to press a kiss to his neck, sighing. "'S was a good idea."

"Relaxing, isn't it? I may just install one of these things in my office and lock myself in there when you're being particularly difficult."

"Gonna be hard when 'm already in it." He snickered, unperturbed.

The only response fit for that was : to splash some water directly into Eggsy's face.

'That laugh right there,' Harry thought, wiping the water from his face with a fond smile. "Because I could," he replied simply and leaned forward, catching Eggsy's smiling lips in a kiss. "And...you deserved it."

“Didna,” he grinned, kissing him back contentedly.

"Okay, maybe not." He took Eggsy's slightly bruised lip between his teeth and lightly bit down on it. The slamming of the door startled him a second later and he pulled back abruptly, looking around. Christ, he'd gotten so lost in Eggsy that he'd completely tuned out everything else around them. "Seems like we've got this whole place to ourselves now," he murmured, looking back at him with a grin. "What in the world shall we do now?"

Eggsy hummed, glancing around as well. “Dunno,” he pushed himself over in the water, settling himself down on Harry’s lap easily. “We can always go back t’the room and get to sleep, ain’t it getting t’be your bed time, old man?” He teased, resting his hands on the strong, broad shoulders in front of him.

_Old man, huh?_ Harry smirked, his hands coming up to rest on Eggsy's waist, instinctively. But at those words his hands slipped lower and he cupped those round cheeks, whishing he could slap them but instead he settled on pinching them, just hard enough to feel it. "Well I was thinking of spending some more time with this amazingly hot bloke I've got my eyes on to figure out what brings him the most intense pleasure but I suppose you're right, I am a tad tired. We should definitely do your thing." He patted Eggsy's ass and started to push him off, indicating he wanted to stand up.

 “Who is he? I’ll fuckin fight him,” Eggsy huffed, more firmly planting his knees on either side of Harry’s lap and keeping his arms around him, refusing to let him up.

He settled back down, fighting back a smile. "Hm," he looked Eggsy up and down as if he was comparing him to the 'other guy'. "I have to be frank here; I don't think you'll win. He is immensely good in combat. It's one of the many things I...admire him for."

“Tch!” He scoffed, shaking his head and leaning down to kiss his nose briefly. “’m pretty good m’self, bruv. ‘n I don’t ‘fink he’s good enough f’you. Hot bloke ‘r no, y’should spend time with me.” He smirked, leaning in again to nuzzle his hair affectionately. He joked, of course, but every joke has its kernel of truth.

"Should I, now?" He hummed, his hands running back up Eggsy's back then down his sides, simply taking advantage of the fact that he could just touch as much as he wanted. "And just what would I get in return, hm?"

“Pleasure of my company?” he tried with a grin, leaning in to press a slow kiss to his lips, lingering. “Course, that comes with perks.” Another kiss, just as slow as the first, this time his hands sliding down to touch his chest. “’f ya want.”

The kisses, slow and soft as they were, combined with Eggsy's touch send a shiver running down Harry's spine, teasing his nerve endings. "Perks? And what would those be, if I might ask."

“’f you have to ask…” he spoke just above his lips, brushing against him with each word. He had more to say, but chose to disregard it, favouring more slow kisses. He was getting too addicted to them too quickly.

Eggsy may have said something after that, Harry couldn’t be sure and he was finding it hard to give a damn at the moment. He clearly had much more important things on his mind. In this case, Eggsy’s kisses. Gods, the man could kiss. And Harry found it impossible not to simply melt against him and let himself get lost in his kisses.

“Has anyone ever told you what an amazing kisser you are?” He asked a long moment later when they had to pull back for air. He was out of breath and with Eggsy this close to him it was impossible to miss just how worked up those kisses had gotten him. It was quite embarrassing.

He was grinning against him, not wanting to pull back too far. His lips pressed themselves to the corners of Harry’s eyes, hands finding his sides. Smirking to himself, he wiggled on his lap. “Might’a been brought up once or twice,” he murmured, nuzzling his nose behind his ear.

He'd tried not to tense, really he did. But the moment Eggsy's lips went anywhere near his scar, he couldn't help but flinch back and tense up. He recovered quickly, however. So quickly that Eggsy didn't seem to notice or if he did, he wasn't mentioning it which was perfectly fine with Harry, thank you very much.

He huffed, ignoring the fact that it seemed a bit forced, and tried to get back into that relaxed state. "Well that's the last time I'm stroking your ego."

“What?” Eggsy pulled back somewhat reluctantly, wanting nothing more than to remain buried in his neck. “’s true.” He kissed his lips briefly, and floated his way off his lap again. Lifting a hand, he looked at his red and pruning skin with a bit of a frown. “We probably shouldn’t take too much longer, eh?”

"I know, I just meant - " he trailed off with a shake of his head. Clearly, whatever he'd meant to say didn't get out right.

He held up his hands, skin equally red and pruning and chuckled. Grateful for the distraction, he took Eggsy's hands in his and kissed the wrinkly tips of his fingers then stood up. "Great idea. I'm quite fond of you but I'd rather not have you turn into a bloody prune now that I've just got you."

He climbed out of the hot tub then held a hand out to Eggsy for support. "Did you know our skin prunes after we've sat too much in water to make it easier for us to grip onto wet or submerged surfaces?  Quite interesting stuff if you think about it." He grabbed a towel off the bench and handed it over to Eggsy then grabbed a second one to dry himself with.

Still grinning, he took the hand and pulled himself out of the water, shivering a little at the sudden change from the warmth to the cold air. He shook his head at Harry’s rambled fact and took the towel, rubbing it rather violently against his hair before drying his arms and back. “The human body’s fascinatin,” he agreed, smirking as he bent down to dry his legs. “Fulla trivia like that, ain’tcha?”

"Well unlike _some_ people, I do read for pleasure," Harry quipped and dried himself off with quick movements. Once that was done, he paused, eyes narrowing as he studied Eggsy bent down in the middle of drying his legs. And then, for reasons unknown (he honestly didn't know what prompted his behavior), Harry took his towel and hung it onto the back of Eggsy's head.

“Oi, I resent th—“ As the towel dropped over his head, Eggsy paused, slowly standing up straight again. Blindly, he tied his own towel around his waist and raised his hands to the one on his head, trying it around his shoulders as well without so much as a twitch of his lips as anything other than a straight face.

Harry watched him with a similar straight face but his eyes quickly betrayed his mirth. However, when it became clear that Eggsy wasn't going to say anything, Harry grabbed the robes next and handed Eggsy's his, his eyes never once leaving his face as he looked for any cracks in that surprisingly unreadable expression. There were none. Damn, they'd trained him too well. His lips parted as he searched for an explanation but there was none so he simply let it be and slipped his robe on, tying it tightly around his waist.

Eggsy simply folded the robe over his arm, and kept his completely neutral expression, making no sign of removing the towel now serving him as a cape of sorts. He even raised his eyebrows, almost daring him to comment.

Harry had never been someone to back away from a challenge or in this case, a dare of sorts. "Come on, you have to admit it was a tiny bit amusing."

His posh voice was back in swing, flawlessly rolling off his tongue as he spoke casually. “I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about.”

For the briefest of moments, Harry's eyes slipped closed as Eggsy's posh voice and accent washed over him. It sent heat pooling down in the pit of his stomach and that's when it occurred to him how 'dangerous' this bit of information might be in Eggsy's hands.

"Really?" he asked and walked towards Eggsy, only coming to a stop when he was standing directly in front of him. "So if the situations were reserved you wouldn't have done the same thing then laughed your pretty little ass off?"

“Would that the circumstances be switched, I hardly think you’d have the stoicism to do what I’ve done,” he teased, stepping forward as well as his hands lifted to the neckline of the robe, his eyes focused down at the sliver of visible skin as his lips finally started to show the smirk that he’d been holding back. “You would be too busy saying ‘No, Eggsy,’ for me to laugh properly.”

"Wrong," he said with a shake of his head as his hands grasped his waist, pulling Eggsy flush against him. "I would be too busy giving you a much deserved spanking for you to laugh properly."

That was the first real test of how well he could hold his straight face, and was it ever hard. He wanted so badly to laugh, to break his façade and kiss him to shut him up. But not yet. He wouldn’t break first. “Then you proved yourself wrong, didn’t you? I could hardly be ‘laughing my pretty little arse off’ if you’re busy smacking it. Therefore, I win.”

Harry's jaw clenched. Clearly, he'd lost control of this conversation and if this continued on for much longer, he'd only make a bigger fool of himself. And, no matter one's age, no one wants to appear like a fool in front of their...crush. (Yes, he'd said it. Thank God, Merlin can't read minds.) So there was only one thing he could do.

"Oh shush," he said and leaned forward, pecking the corner of Eggsy's mouth before he pulled away and started for the door. But not before grasping Eggsy's hand in his and quite literally dragging him along.

As soon as he recognized that he’d won, Eggsy let out his laugh, untying and leaving behind the towel he’d had tied around his neck. He followed Harry out of the door, trotting along behind him with a large grin on his face, rather pleased with himself. “Is that how you admit defeat, Harry?” The accent was still on his tongue out of caution now than anything else, not wanting to be caught with his low-class drawl in a place like this.

Harry hummed, the faintest of smiles touching the corners of his mouth. "I rarely admit defeat and I'm not about to do that now," he squeezed Eggsy's hand. "I'm simply....rethinking my strategy. Come on my lil prune." He snorted at this own words and pulled Eggsy against his side, throwing his arm around his shoulder to keep him in place.

Eggsy was more than happy to be pressed into his side, his own arm winding around Harry’s waist as they walked. And it was only innocently that his hand firmly held there, lightly tracing up and down the side by his hip, innocently that he nudged him with his own hips. And fairly not-innocently did his thoughts stray, wanting to throw him in the elevator, push him against the wall, rip away the robe and swim pants and kiss him until he forgot everything else in the world, until he begged him to hit the elevator emergency stop button, until they needed to spread the robe and towel on the floor so it wouldn’t be too cold on their backs as they—

Said elevator pinged and a touch of red bloomed in Eggsy’s face, almost embarrassed for his thoughts. He cleared his throat as they stepped inside.

Oblivious to Eggsy's line of thinking, Harry stepped inside the elevator and pushed the button for their floor. "Are you still -" He trailed off abruptly as soon as he noticed the touch of red painting Eggsy's cheeks. He took a second to look his lover over. Head held down, avoiding eye contact, that lovely blush that always made an appearance when Eggsy was embarrassed or angry. Just what was going on through his lover's mind?

Intrigued, Harry reached forward and tipped Eggsy's head back and towards him to establish some eye contact. Once he did, it was brief; barely 3 seconds. "Now, what's got you blushing like this, hm? Care to share with the rest of us?"

“…Nah.” He grinned, though still avoided looking at him. “’s nothing, don’t worry about it,” he said rather simply, though reached forward to grasp at his waist again and hold him against his body, leaning in to nip at his neck absently and affectionately. “Y’wouldn’t be interested.”

“Are you sure about that?” He whispered, his head tilted slightly to the side to provide more room for Eggsy’s roaming mouth. “Because I can assure you, anything that’s got you looking so beautifully flustered, I’d be interested in.”

Eggsy just laughed quietly against his skin, pressing a lingering kiss there (and enjoying the combined scents of chlorine and Harry’s distinct cologne clinging to his skin). “Might’a been having less than PG thoughts there,” he pulled away, though keeping his hands at his waist.

Before Harry could come up with a proper answer other than 'well duh', the elevator pinged as it came to a stop and the doors slid open to their floor. The hallway was empty and quiet as they stepped out, almost eerily so.

"Did it have anything to do with being in the elevator?" Harry asked casually once they'd almost reached their door though the smirk pulling at his lips made it quite clear that he already knew the answer.

“Maybe.” He was grinning still, the red draining from his face again. Casually, he closed the distance to the door to unlock it, avoiding Harry’s eye.

"You're not going to reveal any of your secrets anytime soon, are you?" He asked, voice caressing the back of Eggsy's neck as he crowded him against the door. He didn't sound put off by this and truthfully, he wasn't. He knew (and hoped) Eggsy would become more comfortable and vocal about his desires later on in their relationship.

His hands stilled with the keycard by the lock, his eyes closing and grin turning to a rather self-satisfied smirk as he felt Harry’s words brush against him, his body so close to him. It was nice, and he had a feeling he would enjoy it as much as he did the first time for some time to come. He lightly wet his bottom lip, thinking and remembering he had in fact been asked a question, however rhetorical. “Not now, no,” he said, the lock forgotten. Harry was very distracting when he wanted to be.

"Hm..." Harry's lips continued to ghost over his skin as his hands came up to rest on Eggsy's waist. He took another step so his chest now brushed against his back with every breath. "No harm done," he murmured between light nibbles on his skin. "I can be quite patient when I need to be."  And then because he was a right bastard, he added, "Something wrong with the key, love?"

He actually fucking shivered. Christ. It really wasn’t fair how weak Eggsy was to him, how easily he’d succumb to any amount of attention or stimulation, however unintentional. He could hold Eggsy from behind and whisper in his ear to step off a building and Eggsy would do it. He took a measured breath, loathe as always to break any contact with him, and muttered ‘shit’ to himself as he slid the key in the lock and turned the doorknob. “Shut it,” he grumbled, almost embarrassed, though his grin proved he was more amused than anything.

"Make me," he quipped back and followed Eggsy inside, wearing a smug smirk and all in all looking far too pleased with himself.

“Oh, I will,” he easily responded,  kicking closed and locking the door behind him, instantly wrapping his arms around Harry’s neck and pressing another of his slow kisses to his lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They're just far too sappy, honestly. So easy to write them being grossly into each other.

**Author's Note:**

> Find us on Tumblr!  
> Harry - johnlocknetwork  
> Eggsy - thedarkbunnyrises


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